The Research of Wing Spell Development and Mechanics

Chapters

Introduction
Methods
Results: Part 1
Results: Part 2
Discussion; Part 1

Introduction

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Twilight bit the end of her quill as she read her carefully scribed notes. There weren’t any grammatical errors, no missing observations, nothing to make the paper anything less than flawless. Still, there was a problem on it that she just couldn’t pin point.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She moved one section of the papers aside, using her magic to levitate another forwards. Her eyes scanned the words scribbled across it again. Her lips twirled the quill in the air. The feeling of unease had yet to leave her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Wing-Casting:
Purpose: Grant the subject temporary flight with varying capabilities.
Level of Difficulty: Advanced to Accomplished
Recommendations: The larger the subject, the more magic will be required to complete the spell.

And that was it. There was nothing else for Twilight to read on, document, or refer to aside from her own experimental notes. She got more information about a powerful alicorn queen from a foal’s story book than she did a professional documentation on spells.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The paper fluttered back to the table as it left Twilight’s magical grasp, gently landing on the many other pages beneath it. Her horn gave a slight flare as she levitated several other pages to her eyes. They detailed many different forms of wings. Butterfly wings, pegasi wings, insect wings, and even dragon wings.

The quill flipped in her mouth as she read over all the descriptive references to the varying appendages. They all varied in size, texture, weight of the owner, durability, and most especially, strength. But they all had two things in common.

One, they all gave the subject who owned them the capability of flight.

Two, at least one of each kind had appeared in her experiments thus far.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Gah!”

The sudden shout made Twilight jump, dropping her quill and wing references. Her head whipped left and right before her eyes settled on her young assistant, claws to his ears and head tilted backwards.

“Spike!” She called worriedly. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“No!” He shot back quickly. His head lowered to the unicorn, and Twilight had to stop at the look of near savage annoyance across his features. “You’ve been tapping on the table for the past five hours! It’s driving me up the wall!”

“Spike, I’ve only been here for…” Her head turned to the grandmother clock hanging from her wall, fully prepared to see both hands pointing towards twelve. She was rendered speechless as she saw the smaller of the two hands pointing towards three.

“Oh.” She noted in a surprised tone. She really was there for several hours. Turning back to Spike, she offered the baby dragon an apologetic gaze. “I’m sorry about that. I just lost track of time.”

“No kidding.” The young assistant noted dryly. He was already walking over to an untouched pile of books, ready to be restocked and shelved. “You’ve been pouring yourself into that Wing-Casting Spell every time you have a second to spare.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m so close on making a breakthrough with this spell, but… something’s just not quite right.” Twilight heard the dragon give a sigh, but chose to ignore it. “All the calculations work out properly, and there are no notable side effects from it either. Statistically speaking, I’ve made no more progress in understanding the Wing-Casting Spell now then I was back for The Best Young Flyer’s Competition.”

“Good thing Rainbow Dash was there to catch Rarity.” Spike noted as he continued his work, focused on the task at claw while easily continuing the conversation with the unicorn.

“That’s what I’m trying to prevent from happening again.” Twilight continued on. Her magic pushed the papers left and right across her desk, finally pulling up a single dried piece of parchment. “The Wing-Spell I casted on Rarity was my first time, and it was highly variable at that. Those wings were just as likely to weigh twenty tons as they were to be lit on fire by the sun.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve made no progress.” The dragon supplied, pushing another heavy volume into a shelf a few hooves off the ground. “I mean, you don’t nearly faint when casting the spell anymore, right?”

“True, yeah, you’re right about that.” Twilight admitted with a slight cheer to her tone. But nothing followed afterwards.

The silence hung in the air between the two, broken only by the soft thumps of Spike placing books back on their shelves and Twilight shuffling papers. It took only a few more seconds before the baby dragon chose to break it.

“But?” He ventured forward. Twilight continued easily.

“But I have yet to develop any predictable method for the generation of the extra appendages.” The annoyance in her voice was as clear as air.

“Predictable? Like, they come out wrong?” Spike raised a scaly brow at her words. A quick shake of her mane put the idea to rest.

“No, wrong’s the… wrong word.” She answered simply. “The addition of body segments along the posterior coronal plane comes out different in every subject.” Her eyes returned to her documents, levitating them through the air.

“Every subject so far has come out with a differently organized set.” Twilight noted as her eyes drifted from page to page, scanning picture by picture. “They all serve the same basic function. Drag increase, lift forces, surface area increase, minimized volume. But that’s where the similarities end.”

Spike set the last book along the book shelf, sliding down the ladder with a feeling of satisfaction. His claws clapped together a few times before he turned to Twilight. His serpentine eyes looked over the floating documents as he approached his surrogate mother.

“I still can’t believe Fluttershy was okay with you testing the spell out on them.” He added as he lifted a claw to the back of his neck. He had more than one memory of Fluttershy clinging to him when her animal friends were being used by Twilight’s magic.

“It all worked out once she told them I would help them fly.” The passiveness of her tone was far from hidden. “Besides, they enjoy my magic. Fluttershy’s just nervous that something bad could happen to them.”

“Because nothing bad can happen when you use magic, right?” Twilight gave her number one assistant a hard glare. “Uh, sorry, couldn’t help it. I’ve probably been spending too much time with Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo?” Twilight asked, the heightened tone of curiosity bleeding into her voice. A small flash and hum from her horn, and the papers slowly stacked themselves back on her table. “You sounded a lot more like Rainbow Dash there.”

“Yeah, well, Scootaloo wants to be Rainbow Dash, so it makes sense she tries to talk like her.” The unicorn couldn’t help the grin that formed over her features.

“You’re talking like Scootaloo, who talks like Rainbow Dash. Therefore, you are talking like Rainbow Dash.” She flashed a wide smile as she finished.

“The Law of Transitivity at its finest.” Spike grumbled in annoyance.

“So, what were you saying about the flying animals again?” Spike spoke, hoping to force the unicorn’s train of thought back on topic. He didn’t need to work hard to succeed.

“Ah!” Twilight let out with a small gasp. “Thanks for reminding me. Like I said, each animal produces a different set of appendages or growths to allow the function of flight to manifest. The squirrel, for example,” she spoke as she levitated the top sheet of the pile in front of her. It had the image of a small squirrel across it, complete with measurements of height, mass, strengths, and other carefully written details. Around the well detailed sketch were notes and markings of spells casted, metabolic pathways, and even a few lightly scratched notes from Fluttershy about what said squirrel enjoyed eating.

The detail, however, were the light sketches between the creature’s front and rear legs.

“The squirrel manifested a large growth of skin between his superior and inferior appendages. They protruded roughly one point two three times his width from each side. They didn’t allow him to generate any lift force, but his drag control was significantly increased. He was able to jump and glide for over two-hundred thirty four meters.” Twilight picked up another piece of paper from the pile, lifting it to her muzzle.

“But that’s completely different from this.” Like the image of the squirrel, the paper in front of Twilight had every possible note laid out in perfectly legible letterings. The glare the inked sketch gave was just as detailed, almost as much as the feathery appendages that were hanging from its back.

“Angel metabolized a pair of wings that extended to twice his size, but by mass measurements, weighed no more than one of his paws. They were extremely fragile and brittle. What made them even more significant was their ability to cycle over eighty times per second. They moved so fast, they buzzed.”

“So… like a hummingbird?” Spike’s simple question earned a thrilled response from the unicorn.

“Yes! Exactly!” Twilight nearly cheered as she turned to her assistant. “Angel’s wings are near identical replicas of that of a hummingbird, but scaled to match his own increased stature and size from that of a normal bird. That’s why this is so complicated.”

Without waiting for the dragon to pose the question, Twilight continued on. Once more her horn flashed, lifting the many pages and notes of her research off the table. The detailed sketches, markings, and general test taking data hovered around her, surrounding the vision of both of them.

“There is no statistically different method for what the wings generate as. In the case of the squirrel, the Wing-Casting Spell generated a skin layer from hypodermis to epidermis similar to those of his “Flying Squirrel” cousins, though he belonged to the hereditary genes of a more grounded race. But then you look at Angel and how he received wings from a different species altogether.” A sigh of aggravation left the unicorn’s muzzle.

“And that doesn’t even come close to this one.” Her horn gave a small buzz of energy as one of the papers stilled in the circle. It levitated to wait in front of her as Spike jumped onto her back, gaining a better view of the parchment.

“What’s the big deal about this?” He asked with a motion of his claw towards the sketch. It detailed another one of Fluttershy’s animal friends, a cat to be precise. Like the rest of the sketches around it, measurements of all kinds, complete with complimentary notes from the timid pegasus, were listed next to the well defined sketch.

The cat’s fur was drawn well groomed, its pose prime to proper, and thick leathery wings extended along its back.

“Because Spike,” Twilight began. “The cat has draconic wings. That goes beyond just a different species, they’re along a completely different order in the evolutionary tree. Birds and Rabbits aren’t close on the evolutionary path, but they have a common ancestor from the Carboniferous era. They share similarities close enough for this distinction to be theoretically possible, specifically regarding the mechanisms regarding tissue growth and temperature regulation. But this cat, a mammal, has appendages similar to those of the reptiles. That’s not normal.”

“Yeah, because wings are just so common on rabbits and cats in the first place.” Twice now, Twilight turned to give the baby dragon a fierce gaze. He fell under its power quickly.

“I’m not Scootaloo, Spike. You’re going to have to tone down the sarcasm around me.” An understanding nod came from the baby dragon. “Good.”

Twilight turned her attention back to the documents again. Her eyes ran from measurements of wingspans, to total mass, and then ending at Fluttershy’s notes. A slow deep sigh rolled from her lips.

“So, um,” Spike began to venture. “Got any theories?” He could read her expression before she gave it to him. “I don’t mean answers, I mean just like an idea. You’ve gotta have like a million of those, right?”

Twilight bit her lip.

“Well…” she began, trailing off the stalling word. Her magic gave another hum of activity as the papers reorganized themselves in the air. Instantly, four pages were separated from the rest. As far as the dragon on her back could tell, the only thing different from them and every other paper flying through the room was the lack of drawings on them. Across the parchment there existed only scrawled notes and calculations he could only tangentially follow.

“I developed some basic theories while performing the experiments, but for nearly every animal I have to enforce the theory, there are at least two or three providing counter-examples. Look,” Twilight’s horn flashed again, dragging one of the papers to Spike.

“What’s this?” He questioned with genuine curiosity. His tiny claws grabbed the parchment, pulling it down to eye level. He quickly read it over.

“It was my first theory. Specifically, I theorized that the Wing Casting Spell is meant to provide a temporary bridge between the subject of the spell and another member of its species already capable of flight.”

“You mean like the Squirrel?” The dragon asked absently. He said the perfect words.

“Exactly! He was what initially gave me the idea. But then, Angel and the cat both proved that wrong quickly.” The unicorn’s voice fell as she spoke. Spike either didn’t notice, or forgot to turn off that now accursed sarcastic switch.

“Yeah, not including Rarity and her butterfly wings.”

Spike gave a small gasp of surprise as he found himself being levitated to the floor.

“What did I say about the sarcasm?” The strict tone was spoken with only a few hairs space between the muzzle of the unicorn and end of the dragon’s face. Fortunately, dragons have great memories.

“Uh, no more?” Spike asked with a shrug.

“That’s right.” Twilight reminded. “Now be careful, or you won’t get your ruby dessert after dinner.” The whine that came from the dragon’s mouth was childish. It brought another odd sense of giddiness to the unicorn. She turned herself until she was facing her levitating pages again, reading them over for what was very well the hundredth time that day alone.

“So,” Spike began again, standing on the wooden floor. “Got any other theories?” He clawed upwards, letting the unicorn grab the parchment out of his hand without even a glance. It quickly fell into place along the wall of papers as another fell from the levitating collection. The dragon took it with the same motion.

“The next idea I had was concerned with the available tissue the subject had.”

“Meaning?” Spike asked with beckoning claws. Twilight gave a slow sigh before continuing.

“Meaning I expected tissue covered animals to create tissue resin wings and scaffolds, and reptilian species to generate wings similar to draconic species, with slight webbing. But that was thrown out with the cat.”

Spike knew better than to throw out a sarcastic comment.

“Then, you got nothing else?” He asked as he reached for another paper hanging from the levitating wall. Twilight watched him jump with shaking claws for a moment before passing the sheet of paper. A little teasing did her good.

“Not quite,” she began. “After the cat, I started to theorize that there may be some connection between the efferent nervous system and the Wing Casting Spell.”

“The what now?” Twilight turned to see Spike giving her the most obvious expression of bemusement she had ever seen. Mouth left slightly agape, one eye squinted till near shut, the other wide open, and his cute button nose scrunched into his scaly features. She was having a tough time deciding between giving him a motherly hug for being so cute or a half-serious talk about his studies. Twilight mixed it up.

“You’re so cute when you’re confused," she chided half-heartedly towards the dragon. His expression of confusion quickly morphed into an immature pout. Twilight found a giggle coming from the back of her throat before she knew it.

“Are you gonna tell me what you’re talking about, or am I going to have to find a dictionary?” The unicorn let her content smile linger on her lips for a moment longer. Teasing him was fun, but she was never the kind of pony to ignore a question, especially about her studies.

“The nervous system is divided into three parts,” she began easily, letting her hoof wave through the air as she spoke. “The afferent, efferent, and central spinal cord. The spinal cord is the primary receptor and propagator of nerve impulses. Both the afferent and efferent nerve endings synapse into or from the central cord. The afferent nervous system is where sensitization begins. It’s basically how you feel hot, cold, pressure, or anything else you lay your claws on.” She watched with an eager smile as Spike examined his claws with a new sense of awe. If nothing else, she taught her number one assistance something new today.

“Then, the efferent is for creating reactions?” As kindly as she could, Twilight shook her head.

“Close, but not quite.” Her hoof tapped the end of her noggin a few times. “Your brain is responsible for interpreting the signals of the afferent system, and creating signals to carry through the efferent system. The efferent system doesn’t create the signal, it just tells the muscles or organs what to do.” Two wide reptilian eyes stared at Twilight with complete comprehension. She loved that expression, she really did.

“So, then…” Spike spoke as he let his thoughts turn into words. “You’re theory is… that the new wings don’t have efferent nerves?” Once again, Twilight gently shook her head.

“Close again Spike, but not quite.” Her sketched papers circled her again. “I know for a fact that the wings created by the Wing-Casting Spell all created efferent nerves with their creation. Otherwise, the wings wouldn’t have been able to move, which defeats the point.” Spike nodded in understanding.

“So then, what was the point?” Twilight gave a wise smile.

“Well Spike,” she began, adopting a studious tone. “If the wings were able to generate and create efferent nervous systems, what does that mean with its connection to the brain?”

The baby dragon’s features turned serious with all the time it took to flip a bit. He pursed his lips, holding his clawed digits to his mouth. He pulled his eyes to half-lidded gazes, letting his focus turn inwards. He fell onto the floor to sit, forcing Twilight to stifle a laughter at the undeniably cute display.

He slowly rocked back and forth, moving in some implausible method to have his brain work more efficiently. Twilight quickly filed the idea away next to Pinkie Sense Prediction.

“If the efferent nerves are delivering a pulse from the brain,” Spike began, listing what Twilight had told him. “Then does that mean the brain had to have some connection in the creation of the wings?”

Twilight could have cheered with joy.

“Yes! Exactly right!” She fought the urge to lift her number one assistant into a bone-crushing hug. That was Pinkie Pie’s job. Instead, she opted to levitate him onto her back. The smile that beamed across his face was indication enough that he was proud of his conclusion. Levitating the paper between the two, she gave it a slight poke with her hoof.

“This is the closest theory I have behind the mechanisms of the spell. However, I can’t list any specific resources or data behind it. It’s still just a theory. More than that, it doesn’t help me predict how the wings will turn out. All it tells me so far is that there’s something going on in the brain that determines how the wings are created, but I don’t know where to look or how to measure it. And believe me, the brain’s a complicated place.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you know all about that.” Spike bit his tongue between his teeth, but he was too late.

He was back on the ground.

“Aw, c’mon Twilight. It just slipped out, honest," he whined dejectedly. “When you hang out with somepony like Scootaloo for weeks, you get used to making comments like that. Do you know how many times I’ve been called “handy”?” Twilight’s expression had yet to soften.

“Sorry Spike, but I did warn you.” The baby dragon let out a sigh of defeat, crossing his arms as he gave a huff of breath. An idea quickly swam through Twilight’s mind. “But, if you can help me come up with a new theory of how the subject’s brain patterns affect the Wing-Casting Spell, I just might give you your ruby dessert.” His eyes lit up like candles.

“Really?!” The baby dragon cheered with excitement. Twilight had one more nail to deliver.

“And if you can tell me how to test it, I might even give it to you early.”

Spike was over Twilight’s table in a second. She couldn’t suppress the giggle that ran up her throat this time. She let her hoof over her lips, already fully aware of the rubbing noise of delight that emanated from it.

Twilight trotted to a collection of pillows beside the desk, making herself comfortable on the pile. The papers she had collected into a small wall display slowly began to spread out, circling the two again. With all the ease of breathing, Spike would look up at the twirling papers, read over a line, and then pull it down to the desk.

Her slit eyes read the pages Twilight had scripted herself. Twilight watched on from her own seat, collecting papers as she needed them. Working on magical research was something Twilight would never grow bored of.

Teaching someone about magical research. That felt like something she could live for.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Twilight’s ears twitched.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Twilight was going mad.

She was sure Spike was exaggerating before when he noted his annoyance with her tapping. She was so absolutely sure it was just his impatience. That would make sense. He was just a baby. Almost anything that took longer than a few hours meant forever to him.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

But after listening to that constant noise for two straight hours, no breaks, no rests, no signs of slowing, Twilight was almost 100% sure that Spike was more than just patient with her. She couldn’t think of a word strong enough in the Equestrian language to describe the amount of patience he must have with her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

What she did know was that she was much closer to losing her cool now then Spike probably was. Only two hours from his tapping and she was almost ready to telepathically rip her notes to shreds. It was only that small, docile, still logical piece of her mind reminding her that she had no copies sorted and stored away that kept her from doing just that.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She should stop him. Twilight really wanted to, but what kind of example would that set? He could handle her annoyances for five hours, but she couldn’t handle two? That would be a horrible example to set for a growing dragon.

But her hooves were starting to rub at one another rather intensely. Twilight’s ever analytical mind was sure that just a few more minutes of frictional contact and the fur would rub right off her coat. That would be awkward to explain.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

There had to be a way out of it. Organizing and studying her notes was long past possible, impossible exactly 1.175 hours ago, but she couldn’t just leave. That would confuse, maybe even worry, Spike. But there had to be a good reason to get out of her home, even if just for a few… hours.

Maybe Pinkie Pie needed help in the bakery, or Fluttershy with her animals. She owed Applejack a favor on the farm. Spike wouldn’t forgive her if she went to see Rarity without him knowing. Where was Rainbow Dash and her invasive behavior when you needed it?

“Um, Twilight?”

The unicorn blinked.

She turned her gaze slightly to see Spike standing at his tallest just beside her, head cocked to the side as he gazed at her in moderate confusion. She returned with a similar look of her own.

“Are you alright? You look…off.” The unicorn sighed.

“I’m sorry Spike,” she apologized to her number one assistant. “I guess I’m just getting a bit too stressed over this problem. You know how I am.” Twilight donned a half-hearted smile, assuring the baby dragon that she was alright. Like her expression to his confusion, Spike put on an effortless smile to match Twilight’s own.

“Well, I think I have an idea about that.”

“Oh?” Twilight questioned with genuine curiosity. Her purple eyes looked down to the few sections of parchment in Spike’s claws. The writing on it was clearly that of a novice, despite the many letters Spike had penned throughout the years, but it was far from illegible. Confessingly, that may have been due to Twilight’s constant presence around her number one assistant.

“Yeah,” Spike let out as he held out the papers at his arm’s length. “I honestly didn’t really bother to try and solve for any kind of formula or metabool… metebal… path in the body, because if you couldn’t find it, there’s probably no chance that I would.” Twilight listened to the baby dragon as she levitated the papers in front of her.

“Then what did you find?” she asked as she let her eyes scan the pages, reading the scrawled words across them. Spike eagerly spoke on.

“Well, I know that none of the animals were upset about what kind of wings they got. I mean, you did give like a hundred different animals the ability to fly. With your luck, I’m surprised they didn’t all get upset about it.”

Twilight’s gaze grew stern. This time, Spike didn’t flinch.

“That wasn’t sarcasm. You don’t exactly have the best track record with Fluttershy’s animal friends.” The hard gaze of the unicorn quickly melted under the words. That was something she absolutely could not deny. A few chills ran up her coat regarding her first Winter Wrap Up and assisting Fluttershy with it.

“I’ll give you that one," she admitted. “So what do you think that means?”

“About your luck with animals?” There was no way out of it this time.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” The question was more honest than it was mocking. Twilight was seriously beginning to question Spike’s ability to control himself. A sheepish frown fell over the baby dragon’s scaled lips.

“I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered out, foot kicking a pillow beneath Twilight lightly. It was hard for the unicorn to ignore the sense of peace she got, watching his cute little form pout.

“It’s alright,” she admitted. “You did spend several hours trying to help me. You were due for one sarcastic comment. But only one.” She clarified at the dragon’s quickly grinning lips. “Now,” she continued. “What did you think the wings on the animals meant.” She emphasized her point clearly. The baby dragon spoke on.

“Well, I was looking over Fluttershy’s notes about the different animals. I know you gave them to her as more of assurance that you wouldn’t hurt them, but she did write down some things that were… relevant, I guess.” That earned a quirked eyebrow from the unicorn.

“You guess?” Twilight repeated. Her eyes scanned over a hastily scrawled note regarding Angel. It showed a crude drawing of the rabbit with tiny wings, stating next to it Fluttershy’s note about how protective he was of her. It was circled twice and underlined thrice.

“Well, it’s just a theory, that’s always a guess.” Twilight couldn’t hide the beam that grew over her lips. Spike, however, pretended not to see it. “Anyways, Fluttershy wrote down things like what the animals liked to do, what they enjoyed to eat, who they enjoyed being around the most, and stuff like that. But I saw something that was… I guess related.”

“What was that?” Twilight asked as she followed Spike’s scribbled claw writing down the parchment. She found herself flipping to the next page, detailing two squirrels. One, she assumed, was the same squirrel that developed the attachment layer of skin and coat between his appendages.

“It looks like the wings depend upon what the pony, or animal, is thinking about?”

Twilight stopped reading.

“Come again?” She must have misheard him.

“I said that the wings look the way they do probably because of what the pony, or animal, is thinking.” That's what she thought he said.

That was impossible.

One of the first things Twilight learned about magic, in the advanced studies class under the tutelage of the Princess, was the caster of a spell was the one who determined its outcome. The object that it was cast on was at the complete mercy of the spell.

It didn’t matter what form of spell was being cast. The object that was being casted on couldn’t do anything to stop it. If they could, Discord would never have been turned to stone, Sombra wouldn’t have been expulsed, and the animals from her orange alteration spell never would have been… turned into oranges.

It wasn’t possible that the Wing-Casting spell was contingent upon the mindset and thoughts of the subject.

“Spike, you’ve read all of my notes from my classes with Celestia.” She reminded carefully to the baby dragon. “You know that spells are only affected by the caster.”

“I know. I know.” Spike quickly relented, and he continued to press on. “That’s why I was taking so long with this. It didn’t seem possible, but it’s probably the only thing all the animals have in common. I mean, look at this!” Without any warning, the small purple dragon jumped into the air, at a height that was easily equal to his own.

Twilight took an involuntary step back as he did so, more of surprise than anything else. She only passively watched as his claw swiped at one of his papers in the air, bringing it back down with him. He must have grabbed the one he wanted, because it didn’t take him long to turn it back to her pointing at the words.

“This is Angel bunny, and how he has smaller wings than you would expect. You said yourself that they were really light and brittle.” Twilight nodded at his words.

“I did, but I don’t see how that plays into his… mindset, Spike.” The dragon didn’t relent.

“According to Fluttershy, he’s always trying to protect and stay around her. He’s one of the biggest reasons she has the courage to do half the things she does! I mean, the little guy stood up to Discord when he was teasing Fluttershy, before he went good and all.”

“Spike, I still don’t see-” Twilight didn’t have time to finish.

“It sounds like he always thinks about Fluttershy, the most timid and gentle pony around. His wings are soft and fragile. That’s all that Fluttershy is!”

Twilight’s gazed at the paper. Hard.

She levitated her own dictated notes regarding the protective bunny, rereading her measurements and analysis notes regarding the small animal and his magically acquired appendages. They were small, smaller than his size would normally call for, and the wings definitely wouldn’t stand up to any kind of force. But… could she really just assume that meant it was because of Fluttershy?

“It’s… one example,” she cautiously admitted. “But you’ve seen me perform experiments enough to know that it takes more than one example to make deem a hypothesis statistically significant.”

“But it’s not just Angel, it’s all of them!” Spike’s scaly arms motioned to the papers floating in the air. Again, without warning, Spike showed the strength of his small stature, jumping to grab at another piece of paper. He briefly looked over it himself with his reptilian eyes before turning it in front of Twilight.

“This is the cat.” He noted quickly. “According to Fluttershy’s notes on her, she is very greedy, often taking from other animals’ food when she doesn’t have enough. Fluttershy was a bit kinder with how she said it, but really, she was acting like a dragon!” He waved the paper in the air as he finished his sentence.

“Well…” Twilight began again, far more hesitantly than before. “That does increase the likelihood, but you need more than just two examples. It may be improbable, but-”

“But, there’s tons more!” Spike declared as he jumped and plucked his papers from Twilight’s magical grasp. He read them, one by one, before listing off more and more proof for his observed hypothesis. He began by holding up another piece of claw written parchment. The only thing Twilight could easily see in the shaky grasp was the large heart drawn around two stick figures.

“The squirrel that developed skin between his arms and legs was, quote, being sweet on Ms. Squirrel, who is, I checked, a flying squirrel. In other words, the squirrel you tested on was thinking about a squirrel he wanted to date.” Unceremoniously, Spike dropped the page reaching for another.

“And this one!” He nearly shouted as he held up another scrawled work of parchment. The design of the mouse was what Twilight vaguely thought it was. She only recognized it as that because of the wing designs along the scrawled creatures back. She had drawn something similar, though far more detailed, in her own notes. As Spike spoke, he confirmed Twilight’s musings.

“This mouse developed wings like those of a fly. I remember you gasping in surprise.” The unicorn felt a warm heat flood her cheeks at the memory. “Fluttershy’s notes say that the mouse, sorry, Mr. Mouse enjoys pulling small pranks on the other animals. Usually, he’s just a small distraction. That sounds exactly like a fly, doesn’t it?”

Twilight worked her jaw silently.

It was impossible, completely impossible. There was no way that this spell, the Wing-Casting Spell, was capable of changing its effects and alterations based upon the mindset of the subject. It defied one of the most golden rules of magical properties. There was no way that this could be the answer to the spell. It was an idea almost as crazy as Discord himself!

And yet, it made perfect sense.

“Twilight?” The unicorn shook her head as she heard the dull ring of her name. “Twilight, you alright.” She blinked once, twice, then saw her number one assistant looking up at her. He didn’t look worried in the slightest. He was definitely used to her thinking states at this point. She offered him a peaceful, albeit excited, smile.

“I’m fine, just rolling your idea around in my head.” Spike’s confused gaze matched her own excited features.

“And?” He asked with a leading tone. Twilight was all too happy to indulge it.

“It… does make sense.” She admitted, causing the excited features along Spike’s fast to break out into an energetic smile. Twilight, however, spoke on. “But it’s still only a theory Spike.”

“Oh, yeah.” The energy that seemed to be barely contained within the baby dragon’s form dissipated all at once, leaving Spike hanging in the air. Twilight however, already was making plans.

“Spike, that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.” She trotted past him with a small flash of her horn. The pages that were hanging in the air, and caught within Spike’s paws spun like a contained twister in the air. In an organized fashion, they positioned themselves along her desk, stacked neatly, squarely, and orderly. Another hum and spark from her horn, and a new piece of parchment and fresh dipped quill hovered in front of her.

“Theories exist so we can test them.” She lightly explained. “Since you have a theory, and a good one at that, we have to test it now with a set of constrained variables to ensure that it works.”

“Oh. Oh! Right!” And just like it left, the joy in Spike returned all at once. Twilight heard more than saw Spike bouncing up to her side. He climbed her back carefully, looking over her head as he read her magically printed writing. “So what’s the plan then.”

Twilight was only too happy to indulge in his curiosity.

“If the spell is contingent upon synapses occurring in the brain, then it should be easy to read the pony’s mind before casting the spell to ensure that what they are thinking produces a similar result. However, that may lead into magical interference, which would dilute the data into too many variables to estimate. So it would be easier to have subjects capable of speech to speak out loud what they are thinking as the spell is cast.” Twilight flicked her quill as she finished, turning to see the same satisfied expression on her number one assistant.

She was met with a face clouded in utter confusion. She sighed, knowing she had lost him again.

“I mean we can’t test on more of Fluttershy’s animals because I can’t know what they’re thinking about without using magic, which might alter the results of the test.” Spike’s perplexed gaze gave way to wide eyes of recognition.

“So you need to test on ponies, ‘cause they can tell you what they’re thinking of, or focused on, or wanting to be.” The unicorn nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, but I hate testing spells like that.” Twilight noted with a bit of her lip. “I’d never say it to Fluttershy, but testing on animals is much easier than on ponies.

“Now hold on! You test your spells out on me all the time!” The sudden accusation of Spike’s voice nearly made the unicorn gasp.

But she let her lips bend into a carrying smile before she twisted around, pulling Spike from her back and holding him in a large hug. He stiffened for only a moment.

“Oh Spike, I’d never test a spell on you that I thought could be dangerous.” She spoke caringly as she nuzzle the baby dragon. “You’re my number one assistant, and my very first friend. I’d never put you in harm’s way if I could help it.”

“Oh,” the dragon muttered sheepishly in the unicorn’s hold. Twilight stifled a giggle as she felt Spike’s arms wrap around her neck, pulling her a little closer. She happily obliged.

Softly, in the back of her mind, Twilight realized that she didn’t hug Spike often, at least not as much as she had when she was younger. He was always her number one assistant, almost from the moment she was accepted as Princess Celestia’s protégée. He was a welcome source of comfort she could hold and confide in, even back to before he could even speak.

He followed her nearly everywhere she went, staying with the princess only as he needed to. It would never take long for him to run to Twilight’s side, and it would never be said that Twilight thought of the dragon as anything less than dear. They were important to one another.

And now, years later, he was learning almost as fast as she was, giving advice she never thought of, and ultimately, being her voice of reason in more than one scenario.

Things really did change fast.

“Hey Twilight?” His voice softly shook her from her thoughts.

“Yes Spike?”

“Can you test the spell out on me first?” Twilight couldn’t resist the urge to giggle.

“Sure Spike, we can do that.” She felt the dragon squirm in her gasp. Curious, she leaned back, letting him earn some room between the two. He looked up at her with his big green reptilian eyes.

“Can I ask something else?” He asked with open curiosity. Twilight smiled down at him. She felt one of side of her lips twisting in a mischievous manner.

“Another request? You’re getting a little greedy Spike.” She giggled in amusement as he childishly pouted in her hooves. Twilight watched as his lips almost began to move in argument, but his stilled them before a breath passed between them. His lips pouted for a moment before he tried to voice his question again.

“Would… would it be a good idea to use more ponies in the experiment?” Twilight’s gentle teasing turned on its head faster than she expected. Her mouth shut tight and eyes opened wide as the idea circled her mind. It was a very good idea, and a recommended one for studies such as this. Her eyes looked back down at the dragon, marveling all the more how much he had grown.

He was really only little in body. Honestly, he was almost as wise as she was.

“You never do stop in surprising me.” Twilight encouraged in an affectionate tone. The green scales across Spike’s cheeks took a darker tone at the words. The unicorn found herself smiling again. “Do you have any pony in mind?”

“Well,” Spike let his claws play with one another, eyes looking skyward. “I-I was thinking we could try it out on Applejack, a-and maybe… Sweetie Bell.” Twilight knew full well what name he really wanted to say. She couldn’t stop herself even if she wanted to.

“Don’t you mean Rarity?” The dark green instantly turned a bright red. Twilight just nuzzled the baby dragon closer.

“Hey! Cut it out!” He tried to call out defiantly, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Nope, not until you confess.” She threatened in a light tone, nuzzling the underbelly of the baby dragon more and more. He fought valiantly, but fruitlessly, against his captor.

“Alright!” He let out in a whiny tone. “I… I do want to ask Rarity, but… but if you tell her what we’re doing… and I’m right…” He trailed off, looking away from the unicorn with a guilty expression.

Something clicked in Twilight’s mind.

“You think you’ll get a pair of wings like Rarity did, right?” The small cringe from the reptile was all the admittance Twilight needed. She smiled as softly as she could at her number one assistance.

“It’s alright Spike, I won’t tell her. I promise, Pinkie Promise.” He gave her an unsure expression. Twilight felt the sigh pass her lips before she knew any better. Her hooves released the captive dragon, letting him stand on the floor as she sat back on it. Raising her forehooves, she let them dance in the air as she spoke.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She definitely remembered to avoid poking herself this time. Spike’s expression grew hopeful at the, honestly, rather childish display.

“Thanks, Twilight.” The dragon spoke in an earnest tone, smile across his lips.

“Anytime, Spike. Now go on,” she spoke as she made a batting motion with her hooves. “I can’t use the spell unless I have someone to cast on.” Spike jumped to attention

“Right!” He cheered. “I-I’ll go get them as fast as I can!” He ran out the door without waiting for a response. Twilight chuckled at the display.

“Some things never will change.” She muttered to herself as she turned back to her desk. Her notes were still scribbled across the lone piece of parchment, kept separate from the impressive pile beside it. It was short so far, listing only the broadest necessities to conduct the Wing-Casting Experiment, but details were never something she had to worry about adding.

Her hoof rose to her back, tracing the muscles that run above her carriage. The idea of having something growing from there, another set of appendages, was almost beyond her to imagine. Almost, being the key word.

She had seen more than her fair share of wings by now. From animals, to pegasi, to even insects and reptiles, there probably wasn’t a type of wing she wasn’t familiar with. The idea of being able to have any kind, any set, just by thinking about it was more than exhilarating to her.

Twilight let her mind wander as she waited for Spike’s return. She thought about the joy that would come from flying by yourself, independent of every force but your own. No gravity to worry about, no carriage to cling to, and only the sensation of wind running over your coat.

To put in the words of a famous pegasus, it would be awesome.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile as the mare filled her mind.

Author's Note

Lot's of edit have been made. Thank you to the kind comments and editors .

Credits: King of Cerberus, Echriedz, Coandco.

Methods

Twilight had everything just about ready.

All of her instruments from yesterday were gathered, cleaned, and laid out across a few select tables in her library. The calipers readjusted, the measuring pads calibrated, and not to mention the most important tools of all, fresh ink and paper.

An open area of space had been cleaned out over her library floor, the pillows and other odds and ends moved to far sections of the room. There was just enough room in her open library foyer for a pony to take flight and not disturb a single item.

That was exactly the point.

The unicorn hummed a happy tune as she went over the final details, her horn vibrating atop her head as last minute precautions were taken.

"Bolting spells?" Meant, of course, to keep books from flying off the shelves. "Check. Dampening Agents?" Mainly to prevent any painful impacts along the hardwood floor, or walls and ceiling in the possible scenarios. "Check." Her head looked across the room once more, doing one last look over with her critical eyes.

With the library prepared for the experiment at hand, she was left to eagerly await the arrival of her friends. Spike would doubtlessly be quick about going over to Rarity’s first, and then it was a variable amount of time of how long it would take him to convince Sweetie Belle to come over, given the many times he had swooned at the sight of the prim and proper unicorn mare.

Twilight held in a chuckle at the thought. Her number one assistant was the absolute worst at hiding how he felt about nearly everything he did. What he didn’t say, he would vocalize with actions instead. It was humorous, in more than one way, how often the young dragon became her voice of reason.

He was so young, but he had already done so much. It was doubtless in her mind that he had already done more in his young life than ponies three times his age. Being in direct contact with the princess, helping to save an entire kingdom, not even to mention the number of books he must have read, at least tangentially, by her side.

Twilight released a slow sigh.

He was just a baby dragon, with his whole life ahead of him, but she was having an exceedingly difficult time imagining what he was going to do when he grew up. Would he become a student like her? An ambassador for the princess? Maybe a guardian like a member of the royal army. The possibilities, for him, truly were endless.

A knock on her door distracted her.

With a small shake to clear her thoughts, Twilight looked towards the oak barrier.

“Come in!” She called to the doorway, watching as the wooden door swung open. What Twilight was expecting was Sweetie Belle trotting in with an eager smile, or even Applejack with a small tip of her hat.

What she did not expect was Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom all eagerly galloping into her home, each one trying to fight the other for reaching her first. Scootaloo had pushed Apple Bloom aside, only for Sweetie Bell to jump on and over her. She was swiftly tackled by the pegasus, who was trotted on again by the pink bowed pony gaining the lead. It appeared to be a very well choreographed dance.

The unicorn’s eyes opened in small shock at the sight of the fighting ponies, but quickly relaxed as she recognized the characters. Expecting a little trouble from them was as safe and likely as assuming Pinkie Pie was planning a surprise.

The three fillies ended their mobile wrestling session in a pile at her hooves, Apple Bloom the unfortunate pancake between her friends and the floor of the library. Twilight was at least moderately impressed. It couldn’t have been easy knocking on her door while all three of them were trying to reach her so quickly.

“Hello girls,” the mare welcomed to the trio, welcomed with three faces drawn into wide smiles.

“Hi Twilight!” Apple Bloom greeted from her place on the floor. Her hooves pushed against the wooden oak, lifting her friend with her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both gave startled cries as they were left to drop to the same position their friend was just in. Twilight held in a giggle, but let her smile grow.

“Normally, I’d ask how I could help you three,” her smile grew wide as her words went on, “But I’m guessing you all just ran into Spike.” There wasn’t much room for a question in the unicorn’s words. Then again, there wasn’t a lot of room for theory either, not with the clear enthusiasm these three had.

“That’s right!” Scootaloo recovered with all the grace and speed of another pegasus Twilight was more than familiar with. “He came up to Sweetie Belle and was talking about giving her wings for some experiment of yours, and we realized that maybe the reason we haven’t gotten our Cutie Marks yet is because we need wings!” The elder mare in the room did her absolute best to keep her features from pulling backing into a grimace.

“Scootaloo, I don’t thin-” She didn’t get the chance to finish.

“Yeah! We could get our cutie marks for being cloud workers, or rainbow manufacturers, or-or maybe even being princesses!” Sweetie Belle agreed with her pegasus friend. Twilight had just enough time to raise a hoof before another voice interrupted her.

“Or maybe we could be flight trainers for other baby pegasi, like up in Cloudsdale! Or maybe helpin’ out with settin’ up some of them fancy decorations around Ponyville!” The lavender unicorn shook her head twice before raising her voice to speak again.

“Girls-”

“Seriously Apple Bloom, you wanna decorate?” The voice of Scootaloo was clearly of an accusing tone. “You could get wings like Rainbow Dash, be able to fly at Mach Rainboom speeds, and you wanna decorate?”

“Mach Rainbow isn’t even a speed.” Sweetie Belle defended her Apple Family friend. “And Rainbow Dash did help decorate Town Hall before.”

“That was one time, and it was because they had to get ready helping Applejack for her games.”

“Girls, you have to pay-”

“Not every pegasus has ta race Scoots, just look at Fluttershy. She’s the kindest mare in Ponyville, and she hates doin’ anythin’ fast.” Apple Bloom put herself muzzle to muzzle with the brash pegasus. Neither one was willing to give any ground.

“She has a point Scootaloo,” Sweetie spoke as calmly as she could to the duo. Her hoof hovered beside the two, unsure of how to defuse the quickly growing tension in the room. “Having wings doesn’t mean you have to be flying fast. You can do so much more with them.”

“C’mon, now girls, listen u-”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’ve never flown before!” Scootaloo spoke back to her friend, pushing with all her strength. Neither unicorn nor earth pony budged.

“Neither have ya, and ya already got wings!” Apple Bloom’s face turned into a scowl.

“Well… she can’t fly yet, most fillies our age can’t.” Sweetie Belle spoke again, her previous smile fallen into a grimace of uncertainty. Neither of her friends could see it, their eyes too glued to one another.

“Why can’t you buck a tree like your sister then?” Scootaloo accused. “I can kick a bowling ball through the air, but you can’t make one apple fall from a tree? That’s all your family does!”

“Ah’m learning how!” The young earth pony shouted back. “At leat Ah am learnin’, all ya’ll do is jus’ flap yer wings around hopin’ ta get off the ground!”

“Take that back!”

“Make me!”

”GIRLS!”

All three fillies jumped.

The group turned with wide eyes towards the source of the shout, shivering against one another as they huddled into a pile. Were the only other pony in the room not trying to control them, the scene might have been heart-wrenching. Might.

Twilight let slow breaths leave her as she stood tall above the group of fillies, watching each of them with a careful gaze. From the wide eyes, flat ears, and static tails, it was obvious she had obtained a sacred and long rumored treasure. Their full attention.

“Thank you,” she lightly began. The heads nodded at her words. Giving a small cough to clear her throat, Twilight focused her vision on Scootaloo.

“First of all, I don’t think any spell I cast will be able to help you get your Cutie Mark. That’s something you have to earn by yourself.” The pegasus’ wide eyes grew teary, and Twilight felt her heart skipping beats. “B-But, that doesn’t mean we can’t try, right?” She let out an internal sigh of relief as the filly beamed with the response.

“Secondly, you two,” Twilight motioned towards Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Are correct that wings are not strictly for racing. There’s no one trait about us that means we have to do something for the rest of our lives.”

“Not even Cutie Marks?” Sweetie Belle asked the elder unicorn with a curious stare. Her friends quickly followed suit. Twilight sighed before she gave a response.

“No,” she started. “Not even Cutie Marks. Your special talents may be what you enjoy, and what you are good at, but they aren’t what define you.”

“I thought that was wha’ they were for.” Apple Bloom interjected. “If they aren’t… then… what makes us… us?”

Twilight saw where this was going. It was a long dark road she didn’t have the time or patience to tread. But those curious eyes were evidence enough that it would take a bit more than a mute response to end the conversation. The fillies’ gazes bore into her with a silent plea for knowledge. It was one of the most contradicting feelings Twilight had ever had.

Denying others knowledge.

She shook her head.

It wasn’t knowledge. It was philosophy. Knowledge was facts, evidence, tangible material. Her spells. Her magic. Flight. Wings. Wings! She had to get back on that topic.

“I have a better question…” she began without a single other sentence ready in her mind. Twilight felt the pupils of the three fillies boring into her harder than a shovel in the apple orchard.

“What… do… you…” Her mind was racing at speeds Dash would have been proud of. Every subject she could think of entered and left her mind. Magic, farming, teaching, books, animals, parties, fashion, galas, military, technology, fantasy, science fiction, manticores, dinosaurs, humans, timber wolves. Nothing was sticking!

She needed an idea, and fast.

Fast… fast speeds… flying… wings…

Twilight suppressed the urge to put a hoof to her horn.

“What kind of wings do you think you girls are going to get?” From the expression that split across their curious features, Twilight knew she had struck nothing less than solid gold.

“Oh! Oh!” Sweetie Belle cheered first. “I hope I get a pair of silver butterfly wings like my sister did. She loved them so much, and she still keeps telling me how many ideas she had for fashion dresses with them. I’m sure she’d love them!”

“That ain’t nothing compared to what I hope ta get.” Apple Bloom challenged. “Ah bet if Ah got a pair of big ol’ dragon wings, Ah’d be able ta blow the apples straight from them trees without no hassle! It would be the best!” Twilight was forced to nod at the ingenuity of the filly. She was very much an inventor, even if she refused to admit it.

“And I bet I get an awesome pair of pegasi wings. They’ll make me fast enough to keep up with Rainbow Dash!”

“But Scoots…” Sweetie Belle interjected. “You already got wings.”

“Yeah? So?” Scootaloo asked back. Apple Bloom watched her unicorn friend before turning to the pegasus beside her.

“Well… how’s a wing castin’ spell gonna give ya wings… if ya already got ‘em?”

The realization of the situation hit Scootaloo swiftly and without mercy.

This time, however, Twilight was prepared.

“Actually,” she began, earning the swift attention of the three fillies. “Testing a wing spell on a pegasus would be an interesting variable to consider. It could do nothing at all,” Scootaloo’s face fell with her short wings. Twilight, however, never let her smile falter. “Or it could give you a new pair larger than the princess’s.” As she predicted, the pegasus nearly broke her face with the smile she gave.

All of her friends joined suit.

Their eyes looked from one another, the level of glee scarcely hidden within each of the orbs seeming to increase exponentially with every passing second. They took in a simultaneous breath of air, lifted their hooves from the ground, and shouted out a phrase the eldest pony in the room would have been a foal to have not seen coming.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Wing Testers!”

Their hooves slammed into one circular high five.

“Glad to see your all excited to get started. Spike should be getting here soon.” Twilight led off with a smile. “It can’t be the easiest thing trying to find Applejack across all of Sweet Apple Acres.” And the mare knew that from experience.

“Oh, my sis can't come.”

That statement stopped the unicorn still.

“What?” She asked the young earth filly. “Then, what is she doing? Is she helping Pinkie Pie with a new recipe?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Then maybe with Fluttershy and a new animal friend.” Another shake, another wrong question. “Then what?”

“Applejack said she's gonna be workin' the field all day!” The filly nearly bounced as she spoke the name. Twilight’s brows rose in tandem with the high-pitched voice. “She an' Big Mac got behind yesterday, so they told me ta play with the girls today. She said she ain't gonna stop till the orchard is emptied of every single apple!”

Twilight was left scratching her head.

“So… then where is Spike?” Twilight asked the trio. “You three probably galloped ahead of him, but I don’t think he’d be this far behind.” The unicorn watched as the three ponies exchanged glances to one another, joined with shrugging shoulders and half raised brows.

“We thought he was right behind us.” Sweetie Belle ventured first.

“Yeah, he seemed really excited about it, for some reason.” Scootaloo agreed.

“But as soon as he told Sweetie ‘bout the plan, we all just jumped the cart n’ barrel ta get over here.” Apple Bloom finished for the rest of her friends. It all left Twilight with a hoof to her chin.

She wasn’t too worried about him. As long as he didn’t go outside Ponyville, it was pretty unlikely he was late for any reason but his own. Her lavender eyes scanned over the Cutie Mark Crusaders again. They looked up at her with attentive gazes.

“Well, where did he find you girls?”

“Oh, we were helping Rarity with her fashion designing.” Scootaloo threw out the words like a moldy rag. “It was no fun, and we got no Cutie Mark either.”

A tired sigh left Twilight’s lips.

It wouldn’t have been the first time in the world Spike would be distracted by Rarity, and it wasn’t hard to see the generous mare asking him for a bit of help designing a dress. She always did love to have an extra pair of hooves or claws a… wait…

“Wait,” Twilight held up her hoof. “Didn’t Rarity… banish you three from helping around her store?” Without any hesitation, they all nodded. That only made her brow rise in confusion. “Then how were you helping Rarity?”

“We weren’t helpin’ her in the store,” Apple Bloom began. “She says we’re a “walking catastrophe waitin’ ta happen”.” The cheer in the filly’s voice seemed rather out of place given the way she had just described herself. Sweetie Belle, however, picked up where her friend left off.

“My sister wanted a few ponies to help her collect some materials for one of her tiaras. Really, it was just an excuse to help her dig up some gems and jewels.”

This time, Twilight’s head connected with the end of her hoof swiftly and without hesitance.

The three fillies looked up to her with unbounded confusion.

“Twilight?” Scootaloo asked carefully. “Are you… okay?” A deep, concentrated sigh left the unicorn’s lips before she responded.

“Fine, just…” Her mind searched for the appropriate word, careful as to just how deeply these fillies would read into what she said. “Tired of Spike’s little escapades.” That would do.

“Oh, is he trying to escape from something?” Sweetie Belle asked the elder unicorn. Her confusion was shared among her friends.

“No, more like…” Twilight let her hoof circle in the air. “Trying to escape to something.” Their curiosity was undiminished. Twilight, however, had other priorities to worry about then explaining hormonal responses to a group of young fillies.

“You know what? Why don’t we just start the testing now?” For what was easily the third time in an hour, the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked up with beaming eyes. “Who wants to go first?”

Twilight may as well have opened the doors to Tartarus.

“Me!”

“No! Me!”

“I wanna!”

The three fillies jumped up and down in front of the unicorn, causing her to back away with a dramatically increasing sense of dread. Their small bodies jumped one another, each attempting to raise their hoof high into the air as they stood atop their friends. Twilight winced far more than once as one of the fillies was subject to the full weight of her companions.

It was like watching matter trying to roll itself into a ball. Disastrous, horrifying, but somehow leaving one pony incapable of stopping it. The grunts and small cries of disapproval only increased the level of shock Twilight had.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, she was growing used to such antics, either among her friends or around them.

“Hold on girls!” Twilight spoke with a raised tone. The fillies looked up to her, but continued to push on one another. Their pace was only slowed. The unicorn worked fast.

“I’m thinking of the latest work by Mythril the Mythic. First to tell me her theories on magical resonance and universal Ley Lines gets to go first.”

The fillies stared up at her with wide eyes and open mouths. They had stopped fighting, but it looked like they had also stopped breathing. Twilight winced. She may have thought too fast for them.

“Okay, second try,” she began. “I’m thinking of a number between one and a thousand. Closest gets to go first, ready?” Like a whistle had been blown, the trio of friends jumped off one another, landing in a horizontal line, looking up to Twilight. Each of them gave a fierce nod of determination.

“Go!”

“Thirty-four!” Called Apple Bloom.

“Number one!” Shouted Scootaloo.

“Six hundred sixty six!” Sweetie Bell followed suit.

Twilight’s raised her hoof, aiming at the tan coated earth pony.

“The number was forty-two. Apple Bloom wins.”

The small filly cheered into the air, rearing on her back hooves and she swung her forehooves through the air in delight. Scootaloo grumbled beside her, mumbling about how first place was always on her mind. Sweetie Belle pouted, but didn’t say a word otherwise. But they weren’t fighting, and to Twilight, that was definitely a victory.

“Alright,” she began. “You’re up first then.” Twilight’s hoof shifted away from the filly, motioning towards the center of the room. “Just stand over there and follow my instructions, okay?”

“You got it Twilight!” The filly nearly skipped to the center of the room, reaching it quickly and sitting on her flank as soon as she had, tail swaying from side to side in eager anticipation. Twilight was sure that if it wasn’t for the promise of wings, Apple Bloom wouldn’t have been able to hold still.

“So...” Scootaloo mumbled as she trotted up to Twilight. Much like her idol, she didn’t have the slightest understanding of hiding how she felt. “What’s gonna happen now?”

“Now,” Twilight began, “I explain to you three what’s going to happen.”

Her words earned the attention of the eager Apple Bloom and pouting Sweetie Belle. Twilight looked them each in the each, making sure she had their undivided attention, before continuing.

“The advanced mechanics of the Wing-Spell are still something I don’t completely understand. However, with Fluttershy's and Spike's help, I’ve been able to develop a few theories regarding the actual means by which a pony obtains a certain set of wings. At first, I thought it was a variable tool that was dependent upon only chance, but know Spike and I have been able to establish a solid hypothesis that the wings are granted based specifically off the thoughts of the pony in question. More than likely, it has to do with the afferent and efferent pathways of the nervous system, specifically relating to the advanced synapses that occur within the brain, at least proximately to the-”

“Uh, Twilight…” Scootaloo interrupted the lecturing pony. “I meant, what do we have to do.”

The unicorn’s train of thought broke.

“Oh…” Twilight trailed off. She raised a hoof to sheepishly rub the back of her head. She didn’t bother trying to hide the red blush that glowed through her coat. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry none Twilight.” Apple Bloom told her from her space in the center of the room. “I just wanna know what I gotta do ta make this work!” The little filly’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“Alright, good to hear.” Twilight put a hoof to her temple and explained.

“All I need you to do is to think of something really hard. Something you either want, or admire, or anything else you can easily focus on.” The unicorn watched as the young earth pony shut her eyes, pulling her face into a grimace as she strained her mind. Twilight did her best not to release a coo of admiration at the sight.

“Ah think… Ah got it.” Apple Bloom spoke through a shut mouth. Twilight nodded her head before looking towards the filly at her side.

“Sweetie Belle,” she began, earning the young unicorn’s attention. “I need you to ask Apple Bloom what she is thinking of. But, you have to do it so I don’t hear, okay?”

“Why’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked, ever the curious one of her friends. Fortunately again, Twilight was prepared for that.

“Because I have to limit the variables during the experimentation. If I know what Apple Bloom is thinking of, it could affect the spell when I cast it.” The alabaster unicorn gave a nod of understanding before trotting over to her friend.

“Then… why don’t you just use the spell on all of us at once?” Twilight twisted her head to see Scootaloo looking up at her with her own curious stare. The unicorn was almost never in a mood to not answer a question.

“Because spells like this are semi-dependent upon the number of subjects. Think of it like… a group of ponies.” The pegasus’ head remained twisted and eyes squinted in confusion. “One pony can do a lot of work, but there are some things one pony can’t do alone. But if more and more ponies work together, they can start to do things that they never could have been able to do alone.”

A spark of understanding flashed through Scootaloo’s eyes.

“You mean like the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight couldn’t have felt prouder.

“Exactly!” She cheered, watching the filly cheer as well, the small wings on her back buzzing with delight.

“Um, Twilight.” The unicorn turned to see Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in the center of the room. The tan coated filly looked like she was about to start sweating.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Twilight hastily apologized, turning to give the two her full attention. “Sweetie Belle, do you know what Apple Bloom is thinking about?” The filly nodded, wisely keeping her lips tight. “Then stand back a little sweetheart, I’m going to need some room for this.” With another nod, the young unicorn stepped away. It was impossible to miss the look of excitement haunting her eyes.

“Are you ready Apple Bloom?” Twilight asked again. The young earth pony nodded stiffly twice.

“Uh huh,” she confirmed. “Just makin’ sure Ah’m thinkin’ hard.” The unicorn nodded in understanding.

“Alright, Twilight began. “I’m going to cast my spell now. Make sure you focus on the object you’re thinking of. When I say stop, you can relax, but until then, please try and remain still.” Another stiff nod from Apple Bloom, then she was still as stone.

Twilight took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

Her horn flared to life with the buzz of magic, lavender aura surrounding the twisted bone protruding from her skull. Her mind ran through the proper mechanics and internal Ley Lines, guiding her magic down the proper channels.

She reached out, touching what she knew was Apple Bloom in the center of the room. She felt the filly squirm in her grasp before stilling herself again. Twilight swallowed on a pool of saliva collecting in her mouth, taking a deep breath of air before releasing her magical spell.

The essence of her power reached out to the young filly, lifting her into the air as the lavender aura swirled around her, cocooning the earth pony with it’s density and strength. A few ‘oo’s and ‘aa’s reached Twilight’s flattened ears, but she paid them no mind. She was focused, completely and wholly, on finishing the spell.

She felt the final rush of magic traveling through her inner channels, swirling through and around the contours of her horn. It materialized into her lavender aura, shining like a bright light. With one more grunt, she pushed the magic towards the suspended filly in the air.

The room was consumed with light.

Twilight cut off her magic as she lifted a hoof to her eyes. She knew it was coming, the moment she began her spell she knew it was going to fill the room, but it didn’t make the brightness any dimmer to her sensitive orbs. She could barely make out a surprised squeak from beside her, undoubtedly from one of the younger fillies being caught off guard.

Slowly though, as she knew it would, the light began to grow dim. The bright light dissipated as the rest of the library became clear again. Every book was still firmly attached to the shelves, as her spell had ensured they would be, and the furnishings safely kept off to the side, as she had left them. A small cloud of smoke, however littered the floor, dancing through her hooves in puffy chunks.

“Magical instability,” Twilight noted absently as she lifted and dropped a hoof on one of the white clouds, pounding it into oblivion. “Dissipation through small forces, nothing to worry about.” She spoke only to herself though. Raising her head, Twilight looked to see Apple Bloom, hoping to see the fruits of her labors.

Apple Bloom still stood woozily in the center of the room. She pushed each one against the floor, rocking herself from one leg to the other, testing the muscles in her body. She didn’t feel different, wasn’t thinking any differently, and was pretty sure she could remember everything.

Then her eyes turned backwards and saw something new.

Along the opposite sides of her back, close to her lateral plane of symmetry, protruded two new limbs. They were extended out to their fullest, hanging out twice as far as the filly could reach. They shadowed the ground with the leathery skin, reflecting the soft light of the room with their orange scales.

Apple Bloom’s smile nearly cracked her jaw right off.

“Ah got wings! Ah got wings!” She cheered as she jumped into the air.

Her draconic wings flapped in tandem with joy.

“You got wings!” “You have wings!” Her friends cried in tandem as they rushed their newly dubbed avian friend. Scootaloo pounced onto the Apple Filly, playfully tackling her to the ground. Sweetie Belle jumped on top of the two with laughter of her own. Apple Bloom was giggling with unbounded delight, her fresh wings reaching out and wrapping themselves around her two friends.

“These things ‘er strong!” She happily declared as she effortlessly moved Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle from her. Both gave small squeaks of surprise before falling back into giggles of delight. Twilight watched on with a content smile of her own.

“So, Apple Bloom,” she began, approaching the group of fillies. “How do your new wings feel?” The young foal was only too happy to talk about it.

“Amazin’!” She declared, jumping to her four hooves, wings out stretched again. “Ah mean, it feels like Ah’ve had them mah whole life! There ain’t nothing ‘bout them Ah’m not used to.” As if to demonstrate, the filly flapped her left wing, watching with beyond satisfaction as the scaly top cycled in a flight pattern, pushing her weight to her right side.

“That’s excellent.” Twilight noted happily. She levitated a quill and paper from a far off desk to her, looking over the filly carefully as she eyed the measurements of the newly attached wings. Apple Bloom had gone back to talking to her friends.

“No cell or scale proliferation, seamless integration between fibers of coat and scales, matching color tone,” Twilight whistled off all the visible details as her quill set to work jotting down all that she saw. Her eyes didn’t blink.

“Excellent muscular strength, proper synapses established with efferent fibers…” Twilight reached out and ran a hoof down Apple Bloom’s wing, letting her hoof glide between the bony protrusions. “Definitely matches the anatomy of draconic species,” her eyes turned to the filly she had cast her spell on. Apple Bloom hadn’t made a motion or spoken a word of acknowledgement towards Twilight’s contact on her wing.

“Unlikely establishment of afferent nervous system, however…” Her eyes looked at her parchment, double checking her details to make sure nothing was mislabeled or spelled. Everything checked out.

“So, Apple Bloom,” Twilight began again, making sure the filly was looking at her. She didn’t have to check twice. “What were you thinking of?” With her grin unchanged, Apple Bloom answered.

“Mah brother!” That wasn’t the response Twilight was expecting. Though to be fair, what she was thinking of hardly qualified as an expectation.

“Your brother?” the elder unicorn questioned.

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom spoke again. “Ah was just thinkin’ tha’ he works tha’ hardest on in the farm and in the market, ‘cause he’s so strong. He can pull houses righ’ ‘cross the ground!” Twilight could recall that incident with rather vivid detail. She could name two other ponies who could as well.

“So… you were thinking about how hard he works… or about how strong he was?”

“Neither really.” She spoke on. “Ah, was just thinkin ‘bout him. The rest is just… kinda stuff that comes with thinkin’ bout another pony, ya know?” Twilight did know, in fact. It was hard to think of anything without remembering what they were related to, or what they were capable of.

“Interesting.” She spoke, noting down the details of Apple Bloom’s thoughts. “Thinking of Big Macintosh. Unspecified, but may correlate to large wingspan and strength. Draconic wings may be only avian species capable of possessing both qualities in tandem.” It wasn’t an idea she could test, but all ideas must be written down, or so Twilight had drilled into her own mind.

That left just one more test.

“Apple Bloom.” Twilight spoke, earning the attention of all three fillies. “Do you want to try a test flight?”

“Ya mean like outside?” The unicorn quickly shook her head.

“No no no!” She spoke quickly. Judging by the way the fillies leaned back, and Apple Bloom’s draconic wings retracted, maybe a bit too fast. “Sorry, but I don’t want to risk you flying too high or too fast for me to be able to properly watch out for you. Just in here is fine. And don’t worry, I cast several spells over the place. There won’t be any harm done to you or around you.”

The filly didn’t need to be asked twice.

Her large wings expanded to their fullest, silently asking Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to give her space. They complied, back pedaling away with wide eyes on their friend.

Apple Bloom took a few deep breaths, adjusting her hooves on the ground as her neck craned upwards. She looked to the top of the library, biting her lip as her eyes traced the walls of the small wooden home. Twilight watched on, eager herself for what fruits would come of the labor.

The tan scaled wings slowly retracted, enough to earn a small gust of air across the wooden floor, but not nearly enough to lift the filly from the ground. Slowly though, the tempo increased, fighting the force of gravity with greater and greater effort.

With one last push, Apple Bloom was off the ground.

“You’re flying! You’re flying!” Scootaloo cheered beneath her friend, watching as the dragon winged earth pony rose higher and higher into the library with every beat of her wings. While the smile had yet to fade from her lips, it was more than clear she was not comfortable being off the ground. Twilight took action.

“Just relax Apple Bloom!” She called up to the filly, instructing her as best she could. “You don’t need to go any higher. Try… try gliding, like Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash.” The filly didn’t respond with words. Instead, her large wings extended to their fullest outwards.

She slowly began to move herself through the air.

“Ah’m doin’ it! Ah got it!” Apple Bloom eagerly shouted as she glided through the air. Her legs pumped up and down as if she were jumping from the ground, her wings matching each motion she made. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo continued to applaud their friend from the ground, watching her with one part admiration, two parts anticipation.

Twilight continued taking notes, lavender eyes transfixed on the filly as her quill followed her levitating spell.

“Excellent motor control, intuitive responses, suggests either some amount of smooth muscle components or memory implantation. Memory implantation less likely due to lack of knowledge regarding flight instincts between either subject or caster.”

Quickly, she moved the page into her eye sight, reading over the scribbled words to make sure they were properly written as dictated. Once through, with a satisfied nod, she returned the page to some area of space outside her field of vision.

When she looked back up, Twilight let out a gasp.

“Apple Bloom! Watch out!” She didn’t speak fast enough.

The newly winged filly hit the far wall of the library. Hard.

All three grounded ponies hissed in a breath of air, watching with discomfort as the once filly earth pony slide down the library wall. Her rump landed on the ground with a light thump, followed by the filly falling backwards, eyes spinning.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trotted quickly to her side, flanking her as they looked down at their friend. Twilight wasn’t far behind.

“Apple Bloom, you okay?” Scootaloo asked as she put her muzzle just above her friends. She watched the green eyes of the Apple Family member spin in opposite directions, head swaying from side to side.

Then with a small shudder, and a large shake, the filly blinked a few times before looking back up at the pegasus.

She had the broadest smile she had given so far today.

“That was awesome!” Apple Bloom cheered to her friends.

A sigh of relief fell from Twilight’s lips, one she wasn’t aware she was holding. She watched the earth pony jump back to her feet, not a part on her even scuffed by the impact. Instead, in fact, the filly jumped back into the air, only too eager to try flying again.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched on in amazement, following their friend’s second attempt at using her newly granted wings. The elder mare, however, had something else on her mind. Even better, she knew how to make it happen.

“Alright girls,” Twilight announced proudly, looking over the next two fillies below her.

“Who’s next?”

Results: Part 1

Twilight stared down at the blank sheet of paper in front of her. It rested on the oak desk she was accustomed to using, surrounded by three similarly sized sheets, each filled with hastily scrawled notes. Though they were legible to her own trained eyes, the unicorn knew they were in no presentable condition.

One of the most important parts of any kind of research, as Twilight had learned, was being able to tell other ponies what you had found. That meant telling them how you came up with the idea, what you did to test it, what you got out of it, and what it can mean for the community at large. The Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.

The results section of any study, in the mind of Twilight Sparkle, was both the easiest and the hardest part to write.

On one hoof, she had all of the notes and documentations she needed in order to properly illustrate the success or failure of the methods performed. All that was needed from her, the author, was the ability to properly explain the results gathered from the experiment performed. Maybe she had to generate a chart, draw a proper graph; sometimes it was just a simple numerical data table. All she had to do was say what happened. That’s where the trouble usually began.

To her mind, and very well the mind of every author to their own research, all of the data she collected was important. She wanted to show so literally everything that had occurred during the experimentation procedure. Her notes were jotted out already with every detail of what had occurred. From the moment Apple Bloom had been encased in the lavender cocoon of magic to the very last moment when Scootaloo had undergone the effects of the spell herself.

It would be so easy and so satisfying to simply copy her notes onto the results. But, that was impractical.

It was one of the few lessons she had learned outside of Celestia’s tutelage. Just because the notes read and made sense to her did not mean that every curious eye would be able to follow it. There was an intelligence bar she had to set, of course, but if somepony was forced to jump around the paper to properly follow it, or reread the same event thrice over, they would most likely discard the carefully constructed research document.

A low sigh left Twilight as she let that knowledge wash over her.

She had the paper. She had the results. She had a quill. She had her mind.

With a satisfied smile, Twilight magically lifted the quill. She began to carefully scrawl across the parchment, speaking out loud the words that she wrote.

“The Wing-Spell was performed under controlled conditions on animals with varying volume, mass, and psychological traits.” The unicorn dipped her feathered utensil in ink before she continued to write. “All animal testing was done under the supervision of a qualified caretaker who monitored the conditions of the animals throughout the testing procedure. No adverse side-effects were observed during the process nor were any later noted to have developed.”

“Fluttershy would probably have my head if there were.” Twilight muttered as she reread her paper for grammatical errors. A small giggle of disbelief left her muzzle. “No, the worst Fluttershy would do is give me a stern reprimanding.” The unicorn’s face grew uncharacteristically stern as her thoughts naturally progressed. “Like I would need a lecture of self-control after harming something with my magic.” The unicorn gave an involuntary shiver before placing her quill back on the paper.

“During testing of the varying animal species, all test subjects successfully produced a set of wings upon their posterior side. The exact position of the wings varied in exact location, either appearing more superior or inferior along the subject. However, most wings generated appeared within the Thoracic bones of the spine.” Twilight lifted her quill as she gave another pulse of magic from her horn.

A sheet of paper gently glided through the air from the pile she had generated before. It was stained with numbers and figures crossed off or filled in with blotches of ink. Her lavender eyes scanned it over once, then twice, then double checked her double check. She set the paper down as her horn flashed again, lifting the quill with a fresh spot of ink on the end.

“In a statistical T-Test, accounting for bone variety within different species, approximately 67% of the wings generated appeared with the T3 to T5 bones of the Thoracic curvature, with a standard deviation of 4.5%. This also produced a p-variable of 0.04, confirming that most bones appear along the thoracic portion of the spine.”

Twilight bit her lip as she let the quill hover over the paper. One part of her wanted, desperately pleaded, to let her explain the scientific reasoning behind why this made sense. It was far more likely for the wings to appear along the upper portion of the thoracic bones and not the lower portions or even the lumbar region. In just three or four pages, she could explain in complete detail how if a hypothetical set of wings were to develop along any of the lumbar bones, the force the wings would generate would be too close to the theoretical center of mass of the body, resulting in an inability to balance in the air.

She could just as easily explain why the cervical bones would be unlikely to develop wings upon them, through a combination of stress versus strain fractures involving the cortical bone material in relation to the average amount of force required to lift a body of mass off the ground. If a pair of wings was to grow, then the cervical bones of the spine would need to increase their average density by 83.4%, theoretically, in order to properly compensate for the new forces. This would result in either a chocking of the precious spinal cord, hindering the propagation and firing of neurons, or severely limit the R.O.M. of the subject’s neck.

It was so obvious, and she could make it just as obvious to others with just a few hours of her quill writing. But she couldn’t, at least not yet.

“Discussion, Twilight, keep your thoughts for the discussion. Just like Celestia taught you.” The unicorn mumbled to herself, biting on her tongue to keep the words from progressing into a grumble. Her jaw relaxed as a slow breath of air left her lungs in the form of a sigh. She was sighing a lot today. Dipping her quill in the jar of ink, she wrote on.

“All subjects displayed the demonstrated the ability to use wings upon time of casting. As the caster had no inherent knowledge of flight mechanics at the time of casting, this gained knowledge shown by the animals demonstrates a possibility of smooth muscle responses within the wings. These muscles, however, only compensate for the initial response of the striated muscles.”

“Now for the fun part,” Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she dipped her quill to continue.

“Through noninvasive testing of the extremities created through the Wing-Spell casting, it was observed that all subjects lacked proper afferent nerves. This contrasts to wings belonging to pegasi, which are known to be sensitive to touch and other outside forces. However, the ability for the wings to be moved by command of the subject is indication of both efferent nerves rooted within the gray matter of the spinal cord as well as connecting series of striated muscles.”

Twilight lifted her quill as she reread the paragraph she wrote, double checking to make sure it flowed properly. Her head tilted to the side as she reached the end of the paragraph, the feeling of something missing pushing against her mind. Her eyes gave a sudden jump of activity as she realized what she had forgotten.

“However, wings that were formed as a result of the Wing-Spell varied between subjects. These variations include dimensions, mass, but most importantly, the respective species from which the wings derive from. A complete list of the animals tested on and the respective wings developed are shown in Table 1.”

Carefully, Twilight directed her horn towards the pile of research papers she had gather with Fluttershy the day before. As she had done with Spike hours before, the papers aligned themselves into a wall of text and diagrams, hovering in the air within her purple magic.

Twilight’s eyes scanned each page carefully, finding the details and measurements she had taken. Her quill worked as her mind commanded it to, neatly collecting the amassed data from a day’s worth of research into one neat table for viewing.

Her quill lightly scratched at the parchment paper, bleeding the black ink into the coarse material. The straight lines Twilight had made connected into a 30x6 grid, one row for each animal and one column for a different set of data. On top of each column, she neatly printed the words “Species,” “Height,” “Mass,” “Wing Type,” “Wing Span,” and “Wing Mass.”

Twilight’s eyes, keen for all details in her work, double checked every number she wrote down, making sure it was both correct and placed in the correct position in the grid. The last thing the unicorn wished to do was make a squirrel as tall as a bear, or give a cat the mass of a crocodile. As her quill marked the last number, she looked the chart over a third time, taking extra care that every number was correct.

“What I wouldn’t give for a tool that allowed me to edit what I wrote.” Twilight mumbled as she flared her horn again, sending the collection of research papers back into a single stack on the ground. “It could save me at least the quadruple check.” Regardless, Twilight lifted a new piece of paper in front of her, fresh and free of any ink. Her quill dipped itself into the vat of black toner, preparing to continue. With a small motion of her hoof, she made room for both sheets to be present on her table. She continued where she left off.

“Measurements for the wing span are done from tip to tip and total height of the subjects was done with each animal standing in an upright position. No animals were omitted during the testing and process and no adverse side-effects were observed during the Wing-Spell casting or after the spell was undone with a hoof-crux reversal charm.”

Twilight’s quill dipped itself again before she continued.

“Wing Mass to Animal Mass ratios are skewed and improper for presentation due to the variability in wing type. Reptilian wings, such as dragon species, are far denser and usually larger in span than those of regular avian or insect variety. Due to a combination of few repeating wing types among similar animal species, no t or p testing could be performed to identify patterns or likelihood of the event happening again. However, It was theorized among the research fellows that the type of wings generated via the Wing-Spell were contingent upon both the caster’s ability to use the spell as well as the subject’s current state of mind.”

“Almost there,” the unicorn spoke softly to herself as she continued to write the results, stating outwards what her quill was writing.

“This idea was given emphases with data collected from the animal care-taker who supervised the use of her animals during the magic testing. In all cases noted and observed, it appeared that the type of wings generated were contingent to what the animal had an interest in. This data is shown in Table 2.”

Just as before, Twilight levitated the wall of sheets in front of her, holding them up in the same manner. Her quill moved across the page again, gliding with wet ink with no more haste now than it did the first time it made a box. However, this box was not 30x6, but 30x3. Along the top of the box, above each column, were the words “Subject,” “Wing Type,” “Item/activity/thing of interest.”

Twilight copied the first two columns from the prior table on the other sheet. However, her eyes had to scan the wall of information beside her to properly illustrate the interests of each animal in question. She did so with as much care as she did casting the Wing-Spell for the first time. Finishing the chart, she dipped her quill, and continued to write.

“With the established hypothesis and animal test data, experimentation began on willing participants,” Twilight lifted the quill for a moment, tapping the feathery end on her lips before continuing.

“These tests were conducted in a more controlled environment, limiting the possible variables for different variety of wings appearing on ponies. All methods and safety precautions are listed in the methods section of this paper.”

“And… good,” Twilight spoke to herself as she levitated her quill into the black jar, letting it fall into place. Her hoof reached over her desk, drawing one of the papers on it closer to her. On it was data and numbers, little different than the parchment she had examined before for generating the numerical table.

This difference between the sheet in front of her, the two still laying across her table, and the many other parchments already stacked and moved out of the way, were the subjects they had data on. The papers from prior were on the many different animals Fluttershy had around her cabin.

These three pieces of parchment had all the relevant data Twilight had on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, each of them.

“Remember Twilight, no names.” She unicorn reminded herself the rule in research reporting.

“Table 3 contains all data of the subjects as well as their wing types, spans, and thoughts or motivation in the moment of casting the spell. These thoughts were conveyed to a third party observer and not told to the caster until after the Wing-Spell was cast in order to prevent a bias of observation."

Twilight lifted her quill from the paper, jotting down on a scrap piece of reusable parchment to draw up the table once she was done explaining her results. Wetting her quill, she continued.

“This leads into the results of the first volunteer. The earth pony filly produced an impressive set of draconic wings, spanning a length 1.23x her standing height. No in depth analysis or study of the wings were performed aside from basic and non-invasive observations.”

“They are just fillies.” Twilight mumbled to herself. Her horn levitated the quill in and out of the ink jar, wetting the tip with the black liquid.

“All bones along both wings appeared to have been developed, including the humorous, radius, ulna, metatarsal, and tarsal bones. In between these bony extrusions, the wings were able to correctly develop a thin plagiopatagium, chiropatagium, and dactylopatagiums. The wings weighed a total of thirty pounds. This is half the weight of the filly without the wings. Not surprisingly, most of this weight is due to the extra layer of keratin along the epidermis of skin, resulting in the scaly structure of the wings.”

Twilight dipped her pen as she continued to write.

“Though it was not tested, it can be assumed by the weight and muscular responses by the wing that the appendages added by the Wing-Spell exhibit physical characteristics similar to those of draconic origins. This includes a high level of fire resistance from the keratin’s impressive ability to resist conduction of heat, low fatigue rates due to an increased ability to metabolize the lactic acid, and strong forces with the high muscle mass necessary to operate the wings.”

“Too bad Spike wasn’t here to see them.” Twilight spoke aloud as she readied her quill again. “I’m sure he would have been more than excited to see those wings on Applebloom.” The unicorn was unable to suppress the giggle of laughter that came from her lips at the thought of her dragon assistant asking the earth pony for a look at her wings. It would have been one for the photo books, she was sure.

“Spike asking an earth pony for the chance to see her dragon wings. There’s a mouthful.” Her quill touched the paper and she continued to write.

“When the filly was asked to test the use of her wings, she was able to obtain flight on her first attempt, much like the animal testing that had occurred before. She also exhibited no feeling or reflexive abilities, giving further proof that her wings were unable or unwilling to grow afferent nerves. However, the ability of the filly to fly on command is proof that her efferent nervous system developed flawlessly, merging seamlessly with the central nervous system as well.”

“Now for the most important part.” The unicorn noted to herself as she let her hoof drag the paper of Applebloom on it, twisting the parchment until she was looking at her words at the proper angle. Sometimes, even she was amazed with the amount of mess she could leave in note taking.

“As stated before, a third party asked and retained the thought the filly was thinking of at the time of casting. It was revealed after the Wing-Spell was cast that the filly was thinking of her elder brother at the time of casting. Her brother is a farm stallion with an impressive muscular physique, capable of clearing half an orchard of apple’s within a day’s time. He stands taller than most other ponies, princesses aside, at an impressive height of 5’3”. This correlates well with the dragon wings the filly produced, as both are slow, large, and powerful; known for long hours of work and little fatigue from it.”

“Good, now almost done.” Twilight mumbled again as she prepared her quill.

“It is important to note that while the filly was able to achieve flight, she was unable to maintain it for an extended period. This was observed to be more due to inexperience than fatigue, as her initial flight was met with only excitement and a desire to try again. More in depth analysis would be needed to ascertain the level of strength in the wings relative to a dragon of similar size and weight, but this would require further study.”

Twilight bit her lip the moment she wrote down that last line.

“I hope that’s okay.” She prayed more than spoke as she reread it once, twice, then thrice. “I mean, it’s not like they’d just assume I wouldn’t cover it. That’s something somepony would be naturally curious about, right?” Her lip was twisted up and down between her teeth.

Knowing what was coming, Twilight straightened her posture. Her hoof rose to her chest, letting her drag in a deep breath of air that filled her lungs and puffed out her ribs. She held in place for a moment, letting the air sit still inside of her. Then in a long even sigh, she released the breath.

She felt much calmer.

“I’ll just come back to it later.” She concluded with a smile. “It’s not as if this is the final draft. I’m sure the pony that looks over it will be able to point out how to fix it, if it even needs to be fixed.” Satisfied, Twilight lit her horn.

The aura surrounded two papers on her desk, the one detailing Applebloom’s newly acquired reptilian wings, and another documented sheet of paper at the top of her desk. She alternated the position of the two, replacing the earth pony’s data out of her reach with the new information in front of her. Lavender eyes scanning over the paper to make sure she had the right document, Twilight proceeded to write.

“The next volunteer was another filly, this time a unicorn.” Twilight reread her notes carefully before she proceeded with the paper.

“This pony produced a set of butterfly wings. They did not match directly with any known race or group of butterflies, but it is important to note that the wings are very similar to the wings also produced by her sister two years ago in a separate undocumented incident.”

Twilight made another note on her spare piece of parchment to give reference to the specific incident later in the paper, specifically after the conclusion and discussion. But most importantly, after she received word from Rarity that she wouldn’t mind being referred to in a magical research paper.

“The wings produced were approximately twice the height of the filly, within an error range of 0.1 inches. However, the surface area of the wings was also expansive, at nearly twice the width of the previously produced dragon wings. A combination of this height and width make the butterfly wings the largest in a ratio scale of surface area to subject thus far. The set of wings produced had both a fore and hind portion, the same as those in butterflies, but with the hind set of wings approximately three quarters the size of the fore set.”

With a quick wetting of her quill, Twilight continued right on.

“Upon close, non-invasive, investigation, it was noted that the wings produced all the proper anatomy of a butterfly, color-scheme aside. This includes a central point of contact along the filly’s back, where a jugum was observed to have been created. Jugums are necessary, however, to operate these kinds of wings. Butterfly wings do not have any muscular capabilities within them, depending on the jugum attached directly to the thorax for movement. Here, the jugum was produced along the T10 Thoracic bone, placing it outside the standard deviation for wing placement.”

“I have to admit, insect wings are a lot more complicated than other kinds of wings.” Twilight mused as she wet her quill, looking over the paper of Sweetie Belle as she continued. “It’s a good thing she liked them so much.”

“The chitinous membranes formed over the wings are similar to those of butterflies as well, but these were of much heavier density, assumingly to compensate for the filly’s increased mass as compared to those of a butterfly’s light structure. The fine setae hairs also normally found in the coloring of wings were not present. This is also assumingly to compensate for the increased density and heavier mass necessary for the wings to work properly.”

“I’d say that’s enough beating around the bush.” Twilight noted as she continued on. She knew the portion coming next would be what most other academic ponies would read.

“The filly unicorn was successfully able to fly as well, doing so with an almost graceful dignity to her. As the earth filly before her, no instructions were necessary in order to help the filly fly. Her wings acted as her mind commanded them to. As there are no skeletal pathways into a normal butterfly’s wings, there assumingly weren’t here. But as tested, the filly could feel no sensitivity or pressure along her wings when applied. The jugum, however, was also barren of sensitivity or pressure differences, affirming the idea that all aspects of a wing produced as a cause of the Wing-Spell do not have afferent neurons. But as all subjects thus far, animal and pony alike, have been able to fly, they demonstrate the clear ability to possess efferent neurons.”

“Gotta stop rambling there,” Twilight noted to herself as she wet her quill again. “Anything more than that and it will belong in the discussion section.”

“When questioned about what she thought of, the unicorn filly responded that she was thinking of her sister at the time. This raises an interesting idea, as her sister produced an extremely similar pair of butterfly wings. They varied between one another in terms of actual size and color scheme, with the wings produced during the course of this experiment being of a lighter purple shade, as opposed to her sister’s rainbow prism scheme. Unfortunately, it is hard to determine if the wings were produced as an idea from a previously imagined set, or as a product of thinking of her sister.”

“Oh Celestia, this would be so much easier if I could just write down their names.” Twilight grumbled to herself. “How hard would it be to just say Sweetie Belle and Rarity?” Curse as she might, however, the unicorn was no fool. Naming ponies in a research paper broke P.I.P.P.A. protocols, and she was not a pony who broke the rules to save time. Unless… she was trying to go back in time. She shook her head to rid herself of the encroaching memories.

“It is difficult to say with any certainty which, if any, pony displayed the best ability to fly. The fact does remain though that both fillies were able to fly within seconds of gaining their new wings.”

Just as before, Twilight gave her horn a short burst of energy, making it hum with power. The data sheet showing all of Sweetie Belle’s new pair of wings levitated with a lavender aura. A paper just behind it did as well. The two swapped places as they were moved through the air, slowly landing on the table beneath them as Twilight cut off her magic.

Her eyes scanned the paper as she had done to all the documents so far, making sure it was both what she was looking for, and it had everything she needed. With a satisfied nod, she lifted her quill again, eyes scanning the paper for a triple check. A blank sheet of parchment slowly took the place of her latest paper, giving her a fresh start.

“The last filly to help with the Wing-Spell research was a pegasus. This was done so to observe the effects amongst pegasi, who already possess wings, as stated in the methods section. Observations among winged animals resulted in little to no effect, adverse or otherwise, so they were removed from the result data. This pegasus, however, does not yet have the capacity to fly, so the Wing-Spell was theorized to either increase the strength of her already present wings, or replace them with a set that would allow it.”

“And what a thing it did.” Twilight muttered again to herself as she wet her quill. Even hours after the experiment, the results of using the Wing-Spell on Scootaloo still surprised her. However, in the mind of a researcher, there was no better moment during the course of an experiment than being surprised with good data.

“After the Wing-Spell was cast on the young pegasus filly, the filly was seen to have grown three sets of identical wings.”

Twilight set the quill down as she reread her own words. There was nothing grammatically wrong with them, but still, it would doubtlessly earn a double take from anypony who had even the most basic of understandings regarding pegasus anatomy, let alone magic. She was sure about one thing though. The discussion section for this paper would be immense.

“All the wings along the filly’s back were three Thoracic bones apart. Specifically, located along bones T2, T5, and T8. Each of the six wings could be moved individually with all of them presenting with the same exact bone structure, measured size, and feather count. They were all duplicates of one another. Additionally, the set of wings along the T5 bone were the location of the pegasus filly’s wings before testing. These were either replaced or enhanced as a result of the Wing-Spell. It cannot be determined which one.”

“Not without causing some serious undeserved pain.” Twilight noted absently again. “Scootaloo sure was happy about it though. Never have I been so glad to prepare before a test.” With a freshly dipped quill, Twilight continued writing.

“The wings themselves were identical to pegasi wings, as can be researched in other documented papers. However, the wings on the filly’s back were those of a full grown mare, not to those of a filly sizes. However, the wings, even when measured and weighed together, were only slighter heavier than those of a single pegasi set of wings, using ponymetric data to correlate and average weight of pegasi wings in the age hood of a foal. This leaves the implication that the wings are far less dense than regular wings, and likely weaker individually because of it.”

“Like the other wings during the test, the majority of the wings did not display any afferent nervous system qualities, resulting in no sensitivity within the wings. However, among the wings that had replaced or enhanced the filly’s old pair of wings, the nervous system was still intact. According to the filly, the sensations felt through these wings were there, but dulled. Similar to the feeling one would experience with a limb cut short on blood supply.”

“Oh, but the best has yet to come.” Twilight continued to write.

“When the filly pegasus, now with three sets of wings, attempted to fly, she did so with more speed than she could actively run or the other two fillies were able to produce. Specifically, she ascended a height of twenty one feet in less than a second, though no official times were tracked. The filly stopped only because she hit the ceiling. No permanent or temporary damage was done to the filly, as the previously established dampening spells dulled the impact.”

“I don’t think it would have stopped her anyways.” Twilight noted with a smile on her lips. “Kind of reminds me of another pegasus I know. Speaking of which…”

“When questioned what the filly was thinking of, she eagerly replied that she was imagining flying as fast as she could next to the famous pegasus Rainbow Dash. As Dash is a rare case among pegasus, able to pull of the fabled Sonic Rainboom, it makes logical sense that the increase in wing numbers would increase the filly’s speed to reach such a goal, as the larger a set of wings are, the more drag exists with them.”

As she finished up the last section of Scootaloo’s unique set of wings, Twilight halted. Her eyes were drawn to the fabric next to her, causing them to widen as she reread her own notes.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot that.” She noted to herself as she saved space at the bottom of the page. Her quill set to work marking up another table for her data to sit on, three rows of subjects with five columns of data. With all the expertise she had done twice before, Twilight began to list the important data gathered from Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Her pen finished the numbers with a satisfying flick.

Twilight gently set her quill down, tip dry and worn with work. Her magic enveloped the papers she had written on, lifting them into the air as they were carefully organized. They tapped on the wood of the desk, straightening the collection into a neat and presentable stack. Satisfied, she set them back down on the desk, placing a small stone paperweight over the documents.

Her horn burst with life again as she lifted the remaining documents into the air, filled with all the raw data she had collected over the past few days. Just as before, her magic sorted and organized the documents, making sure they were properly labeled for swift reference. Once they were, Twilight’s eyes fell onto the result notes she had just written and organized, lifting them into the air to join the rest of the papers. They settled comfortably beneath the detailed introduction and methods sections.

When they were all aligned and centered, she lifted a small bit of string from her desk, wrapping it around the documents. The small bit of yarn easily wrapped the length and width of the paper, meeting at the center of the documents with slack to spare. A twist of her head and buzz of the horn and the ends began to wrap and dance around one another. Within a few moments, a perfectly formed knot was made.

“Perfect.” Twilight stated with an equally satisfied smile on her face. “Now all I need to do is finish the discussion and conclusion section tomorrow, and I can send this off to Canterlot University.”

Another flash of lavender light sent the collection of papers into an open trunk. With a small buzz, the lid closed, locked clicked into place, and the key safely hidden from any pony’s view or knowledge. Her work was safe.

Twilight let out a breath of relief, feeling the stress and work of the day slowly leave her body. The weight of her work slowly left her, leaving the unicorn with an overwhelming, yet extremely satisfying, sense of fatigue.

Her lavender eyes looked towards her window, seeing Celestia’s sun hanging on the edge of the horizon. The day was over, and her work was done.

“Guess I don’t have to burn the midnight oil tonight.” Twilight noted absently. “But I guess that’s what happens when you spend an entire day just working.” She turned herself from her desk, lightly trotting out of her study and into her bedroom.

The soft inviting mattress nearly beckoned her as she approached, looking only more and more desirable the closer she came to it. As her hooves reached up and pulled her body onto the large soft cushion, a pleased sigh left her lips, causing her eyes to fall in satisfaction.

As her mind slowly gave in to the land of dreams, eagerly waiting to see what new lands Luna had made for the night, a small lingering thought drifted in front of her.

“I wonder what the girls are doing with their wings?”

Author's Note

Well, guess what? There's a second part to this, one that details just the kind of havoc the CMC can get into when they all have the ability to fly. Nothing bad, I'm sure...

Meanwhile, as you may have noticed...

Results: Part 2

“Wooooo-we!” Applejack let out in a cheer, snapping her neck as she let her mane billow in the air. The air flowed around her like a fan. It cooled her overheated coated and worn muscles. To the mare, it was a small amount of relief she eagerly welcomed.

“‘Nother tough day in the orchard is ‘nother day I get ta spend in the market.” She spoke to herself. Her legs were sore from the full day’s work, but not quite ready to collapse. She still had the energy to make it back to the barn, especially with the cool air of the fast approaching night creeping up her coat.

Her hoof readjusted her Stetson hat, pushing the brim up to give the pony a better view of the tree in front of her. Applejack’s eyes slowly crawled up the trunk of the great tree, looking at every branch her eyes passed with satisfaction in her gaze. Not a single red fruit remained on the brown limbs. Every piece of fruit that was there to collect was sitting in the baskets at her hooves, ready to be drawn to the barn and prepared for the market tomorrow.

That was until her eyes reached the top of the tree.

There sat a single Red Delicious, perched comfortably within the grasp of a few limbs and pillowed by the green leaves. The way it sat above the tree, the horizon behind it filled with the golden sky of a setting sun, it appeared to be the last challenge of the day. Applejack pulled her lips into a smirk.

“Jus’ last stubborn apple and the day’s work is as wrapped up as a new born filly.” Rearing her legs back, Applejack bucked the tree with the impressive force years of work had endowed in her.

The red fruit shook left and right, but remained firmly locked in place. Applejack lifted her muzzle in clear annoyance.

“Now gash darn it,” Applejack muttered as she peered at the stuck fruit. “Ah gotta hit the hay soon and ya ain’t makin’ this easy fer me.” Turning around, the apple farmer crouched on her forelegs, pulling her rear legs into a tight ball. With an explosion of strength, she sent her rear legs outwards, slamming into the tree’s trunk and shaking the branches from the lowest twig to the highest leaf.

Once again, the fruit swayed in its perch, but didn’t fall. Applejack grit her teeth in annoyance.

“Now c’mon, don’t be a stubborn rabbit in the winter.” She spoke more to herself than the tree as she turned again. Her fore legs walked up the trunk, letting her body stand on her rear legs as she looked up through the mess of twigs, leaves, and branches. The red shine signature to her family apples was easy to see through the mess. Fortunately, so was the problem.

A tangle of branches were caught beneath the fruit, holding it steady in its own little nest within the tree. The earth pony felt the sudden temptation to swear.

“Ho dang it.” She muttered again, shaking her head as she lowered herself back to the ground. The solution to fixing the problem was obvious, at least to the pony who had done it several times before. However, that didn’t mean she was all too pleased by it.

Applejack let out a grumble and sigh as she turned back towards her family barn. The only way to untangle a trapped fruit was to get up next to it and do it by hoof. Climbing the tree would have been an option, if she was half the size she was now. Jumping onto the branches would have done more harm than good, and she’d sooner sell her hat than intentionally hurt any of the trees in her orchard.

Her hooves pushed on the heavy wooden frame of the bar, hearing the familiar creak of the doors as they swung open. The light from the soon to be setting soon flooded the floor as she entered, casting a heavy shadow all the way to the far wall. If only to herself, Applejack could admit that she always loved the barn. It was spacious and big, just like outside, but was still protected and tough, able to take everything the weather ponies threw at her, short of the occasional national catastrophe, usually courtesy of some kind of animal.

Trotting into the barn, her eyes scanned the far wall, looking at the many tools that lined it. Tools for grooming, tools for digging, tools for shoveling, until finally she reached the tool she wanted. A ladder, a tool for climbing.

“Once I finish with ya, it’s off ta catching them forty winks.” Applejack spoke the soon to be blessing as she lifted and pulled the ladder from the wall. The weight pushed down on her, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle, not by a long shot. Balancing the long tool over her back, Applejack turned around and started walking out of the open barn door.

It wasn’t hard to find the tree in question again. It was the only one left in the plot still holding a ripe apple on its branches. That problem would soon be taken care of.

Twisting around to face the tree, Applejack slid the ladder off her back, letting it lean against the bark. Her fore hooves grabbed at the long tool, holding it steady as she lifted it from the ground. Adjusting the brim of her hat, she positioned the object beneath the stubborn apple high above, licking her tongue across her lips as she made the final adjustments.

She leaned against the ladder before backing off, testing to make sure it was secure against the tree. Satisfied, she climbed the rungs of the wooden tool, rising into the thicket of branches above her. Her hooves moved the leaves and twigs expertly, pushing them aside as she approached her target.

Applejack’s rear hooves reached the top rung of the ladder, evident by the sensation of the harsh bark of the tree trunk against her underbelly. Thankfully for her, the apple’s nest was just in sight.

Her hooves reached up for the stuck fruit, aiming to push away the collection of twisted twigs to grab hold of it. But as her hooves were just within grabbing distance, the oddest thing happened.

Another pair of hooves grabbed the fruit from above her.

Applejack was momentarily stunned still, staring into the open space her apple had been resting on. No matter how long her green eyes looked forwards, she never saw the familiar red of her apple. All she could see were leaves, twigs, and a fading day’s sky. A breath slowly collected in her lungs, before let out all at once.

“What in tarnation!?”

The ladder beneath her swayed with the sudden shout, leading the mare to sway her fore legs frantically to keep her balance. She connected with every thin twig she had pushed away to gain access to the branch. Not a single one of them could support her weight.

With a yelp of surprise, Applejack fell backwards, rushing past the leaves that whipped at her. A hard branch or two connected with her flailing limbs earning grunts of pain as she continued to fall. Every hit spun her in the air. The ground couldn’t have come soon enough.

Applejack’s back hit the soft soil of the earth with a dull thump, followed by a groan of pain mixed with annoyance.

Her eyes blinked open slowly, blurred and unfocused from the fall. Her head slowly swayed left and right as she attempted to regain control of her sore body, fighting off the silent cries of complaint her sore muscles gave. The colors of a setting sky met her gaze, eyes only lightly shaded by the tree.

But as she looked up, she saw another figure above her, hovering in the air.

It was completely covered by itself, the shadow being cast by the setting sun making it nothing more than a floating black object. There were wings on it, large and expansive, easily far larger than those of any pegasus she had ever met. And horns, two of them, rising from the side of its head. She could hear the distantly beating wind, rhythmically in tune with large set of appendages on the figure above here. They looked… like they were a dragon’s wings.

Dragon wings, two horns, but a small frame… a sudden dread began to fill her gut.

“Nah, nah,” Applejack muttered weakly as the figure began to descend. Head twisting back and forth in a fruitless attempt to regain her strength, she muttered, “Nah, Ah’ve been a good pony. Ah got ta meet ma and pa.” The earth pony turned herself over, letting her hooves dig weakly into the grass. Her head slowly began to clear.

A slow gasp filled her lungs as she felt its touch drift down her back, leathery appendages wrapping around her frame. The beast was on her, and Applejack could feel the strength in the wings. They were scaly like a serpent’s, but muscles like an ox. They would let go for any reason she could give. Her weak breaths grew faster.

“Nah, c’mon now,” she muttered with half-breaths. “Just give me another chance. Ah promise Ah’ll do better.” She felt it moving up her neck, hot breath panting as it slowly matted her fur. The sweat from her day’s work didn’t stop her coat from bristling as the breathing began to ascend higher and higher. Applejack grit her teeth, unable to do anything as she felt it tickling the hairs on ear. She heard it take in a slow breath. She prepared herself for the worst.

“BOO!”

Applejack’s shout of freight startled the crows acres away.

A burst of strength filled her, letting her rear to her hind legs. She fell forwards, pushing her weight to her forehooves, shaking the creature on her back. She gave a powerful buck backwards, hoping it would give the last push necessary to rock the creature off of her.

It did.

She felt the wings detach from her carriage, slipping off of her coat as the figure the wings were attached to took to the air again. The apple farmer turned, ignoring the dull throbs of pain her sore and worked muscles gave. If she was going down, she was gonna give the beast attacking her one heck of a ride. But as her eyes focused on the creature in the air again, no longer shadowed by the sun, but illuminated by it, she saw anything but a monster.

Applejack saw her sister, hanging in the air, draconic wings beating at her sides. She had the brightest smile across her face. She could hear the faint sound of giggling coming from the filly as well.

“Gotcha’ sis!” Apple Bloom as she pointed a small hoof at the still wide-eyed mare, looking up at her hovering kin. Applejack’s head twisted left, then right, and then left again, breath slowly calming the longer she continued to examine Apple Bloom. The filly took notice.

“Ya alright sis?” she asked hesitantly, her smile falling as she saw her sister’s gaze grow more and more critical. “Ah… Ah didn’t go too fer’ again… did Ah?”

Applejack slowly shook her head, increasing the pace until her head started to fall. Taking a breath, and straightening her cap, she asked the inevitable question. The filly prepared herself.

“Did ya take tha’ apple?”

Apple Bloom nodded guiltily. The older mare humphed in disappointment.

“Now what did Ah tell ya about takin’ apples from the orchard?” The lecturing tone brought the filly to the ground, wings flexing to her sides.

“Make sure Ah’m not in yer or Big Mac’s way.” The filly droned for what could describe as the millionth time. Applejack nodded.

“That’s right. Now where did ya put it?” Apple Bloom looked up at her sister with big round eyes, lips pouting upwards. Her elder sister didn’t lose even an ounce of the steel in her gaze. Lowering her head in defeat, the filly drew her head back, reaching behind as she clasped jaw over the object in question. Moving her head forward, she showed Applejack the apple in her lips. The mare was not amused.

“Ahf swaa-” Apple Bloom lowered her head to the ground as she dropped the apple, spittle layering the surface of the fruit. She looked up at Applejack again before speaking. “Ah’m sorry sis. Ah just thought it would a’ been a fun prank ta pull on ya.”

“Ya nearly scared me ta the grave Apple Bloom.” Applejack muttered before releasing a sigh. She shook her head with it, clearing her thoughts and focusing on her little sister. “With that bow of yers, Ah thought ya were some kinda creature from… who know’s where.” The filly’s demeanor took a noticeable swing upwards.

“Yeah,” she said with a smile breaking her pout lips. “You were talkin’ like Ah was gonna grab ya an’ fly away ta Tartarus.”

Applejack let a smile drift over her lips as well. It was hard for her to stay made at the youngest member of her family for too long. Whether it was because she was soft for her kin, or just a youthful face, she couldn’t be sure.

“Yeah, yeah,” she spoke dismissively to the younger pony. “Laugh it up while ya can.” The filly began to giggle at her elder’s permission, pushing a hoof to her mouth to stifle the sound it was producing. Applejack watched on for a moment before her vision fell on the two new appendages at her little sister’s side. The young earth pony followed the gaze.

“So… do ya like ‘em?” Apple Bloom asked, biting her lip as she did so. Her wings expanded outwards, showing the large muscular appendages she now had. The earth pony raised her brow at the sight of them. Her lower lip rose as she looked the draconic wings over, nodding slowly as her eyes absorbed more and more of the details.

“Got ‘em from Twi’, didn’t ya?” The question was met with a quick nod from the filly. “Some kinda magic test she was doin’, right?” Another nod from Apple Bloom drew a tired sigh from Applejack. That told the filly she should start speaking.

“It wasn’t just me!” She quickly spoke. “Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got wings, too! Well… Scootaloo got more wings, but she cast the spell on all of us. It was safe, Ah promise!”

“Whoa, whoa, simmer down Apple Bloom.” Applejack gently told her younger sister, hoof waving up and down as she spoke. “Ah ain’t mad, just a little shocked is all, but given it’s Twi that did the hamperin’, I’m pretty sure she ain’t gonna be doin’ anything dangerous ta kids. She’s a good pony after all.”

Apple Bloom’s face was quickly grew relieved, and only further developed into joy. Applejack smiled in return. Walking next to her younger sister, she put her hoof around the filly’s neck, earning a happy squeak of surprise from her.

“Let me guess,” she continued. “You and yer friends were lookin’ for a new way ta get your Cutie Marks, righ’?” Apple Bloom nodded vigorously. Her sister really did know her well.

“Yeah! We were helpin’ out Ms. Rarity when Spike found us. He ran up ta us n’ asked Sweetie Belle if she’d help Twilight with ‘er research. When he told us what is was fer, we all wanted ta go! Besides, he wanted ta stay n’ help Ms. Rarity anyways.” Applejack let out a knowing chuckle as her sister finished.

“Yeah, that does sound like the lil’ guy.” The mare snickered as she could see the young dragon fawning over her unicorn friend. Her eyes looked over the wings on her younger sister’s back, giving out an admiring whistle as she let her hoof slip off of the filly’s neck and over the hard scaly appendages. “They are some mighty fine wings. Big and strong, jus’ like any member of the Apple Family.” Apple Bloom positively beamed under her sister’s words.

“Ah know, right?” The younger of the two cheered happily, giving one of her wings a small beat, lifting part of her body off the ground. But then she froze, smile caught as a flash of panic filled her eyes. Applejack easily noticed it.

“Apple Bloom?” She asked curiously, earning the attention of the filly. She didn’t appear in pain, or hurt, just… worried. Her lips twisted and bent, tongue gently bathing the skin, before she asked her sister a question.

“Am Ah gonna have ta get rid of ‘em?” The question was complete with more pouting lips and wide water eyes. She certainly was an apple, as Applejack could easily see. She could remember using that same wide-eyed look when asking for desserts as a foal. A smile and giggle came with the memory.

“Sorry sis, but we’re gonna see Twi in the mornin’ ta get a bit information on those things.” The wings at the foal’s sides fell to the grass at the words.

“Huh, why?” she asked. “Ya… Ya don’t think Ah’m gonna do anythin’ bad with ‘em, do ya?” Applejack couldn’t have dismissed the question faster.

“Course I trust ya Apple Bloom. Yer my sister, mah family.” She leant down and gave the filly some light nuzzles as proof of her words. Apple Bloom eagerly reciprocated the actions of her sister. “Ah just don’t want mah sister runnin’ around with some fancy wings tha’ nearly did Rarity in without knowin’ exactly what Twilight changed ‘bout them.”

“How… how did ya know these were from tha’ spell?” Apple Bloom asked curiously, eyeing her sister with what she hoped to be a critical eye. All Applejack saw was her leaning to one side with one eye shut, the other opened to full mast. “She only told us ‘bout the spell when we got there.”

“Just cause Ah work on a farm doesn’t mean Ah’m that ignorant ‘bout magic, Apple Bloom.” The sudden declaration shot down any mystery the filly was hoping to stir. “Ah know Twi’s been workin’ on that spell, and Ah know she ain’t gonna be inventin’ new spells outta the green of a field’s new growth without tellin’ me and the rest of the gals ‘bout it.” The apple farmer rubbed her hoof over the filly’s head, messing her mane and earning a squeak of disapproval.

“But that’s tomorrow. Tonight, yer gonna help me take the rest of these basket to the barn, then hit the hay. Sound fair?” Applejack may as well of asked Apple Bloom if she thought the sun was bright.

“Of course sis!” The filly jumped to her elder sister, pulling the mare into a powerful hug. The draconic wings on her back wrapped around the taller pony, completely surrounding the elder’s head, neck, mane, and hat in the embrace. Applejack lifted one of her forehooves around her sister’s smaller frame. Laughter emanated from the inside of the scaly cocoon. But so did a few choice words.

“Ah love ya Applejack.”

“Ah love ya too Apple Bloom.”

For nearly all his life, Spike had been the assistant of somepony. Celestia taught him how to read, cook, clean, and maybe most importantly organize. In return, he helped the monarch with the simplest of things, sending and receiving letters. When he was old enough, he started helping Twilight Sparkle in much the same way, effectively becoming the connection between the princess and her student. When it came time to move to Ponyville, to start a new chapter in the pony’s studies, Spike wasn’t far behind, eagerly helping her in every way he knew how.

Now, now he was helping another pony with her job. Still an assistant, but still just as appreciated as every pony he had helped before. But if asked on a dime, he would admit to enjoy helping this pony the most. She wasn’t a mother to him, or a sister, or any connection like a family member.

Rarity, the first love of his young life.

From her well curled and kept mane to her shiny alabaster coat, Spike couldn’t find a fault about her. She was the most generous of their small group of friends, always willing to help when asked and offer assistance when needed. She had an eye for details and a sense of fashion that could hardly be matched by any pony in Equestria, let alone Ponyville.

Spike was, and in his heart, always would be Twilight’s Sparkle’s number one assistant, and it was something he was proud of. But, he adored helping Rarity more than anything else. It was the best way he could spend time with her.

Now was no exception.

Fresh from a gem hunt outside of Ponyville, cart of jewels behind them, they walked side-by-side down the street, heading for the unicorn’s boutique. The mare still had a spring her step as she trotted in the most eye-catching way Spike had ever seen. He followed as best he could, pulling behind him the red wagon filled with enough precious stones to match his weight thrice over.

“Oh Spike dear, I cannot thank you enough for helping me acquire these splendid jewels.” Rarity spoke kindly to the dragon. “These gems will help me fill the orders from Canterlot with ease. I’m sure they’ll be so impressed by the work, they may decide to make me their exclusive provider.” She twisted her head and flicked her neck, her mane rolling upwards with the motion. A small satisfied sigh left Spike’s mouth at the sight.

“And it’s all thanks to you, my wittle Spiky Wiky.” Rarity lowered herself to the dragon’s height, nuzzling his face with her own. She giggled cutely as the dragon swooned at her contact, noticeably lifting off the ground with the euphoria. Pulling back, and easily holding her smile in place, she continued.

“But, don’t worry about walking away empty hoofed; I have the proper payment for you here.”

Looking towards the gem filled cart, Rarity let her horn begin to hum with magic. A small section of precious stones rose upwards, separating themselves from the pile. They began to hover gently through the air, shimmering lightly with the fading sun along the horizon.

Spike’s love worn eyes moved from the pony of his dreams to the diamonds, rubies, and sapphires in her magical grasp. Drool began to spill from his maw. Seeing the reaction, Rarity giggled cutely. He really was easy to please.

“Now Spike,” The unicorn began. “You deserve these gems and can use them as you see fit, but do take care and be frugal with them. A growing dragon such as yourself has to watch his figure, and we wouldn’t want you to grow a little tubby, would we?” Her hoof lightly poked Spike’s scaly hide, earning a quick grunt followed by his arms wrapping around his stomach.

Giggling lightly, Rarity levitated the jewels above the small dragon, beckoning him to open his arms. As he saw the floating emeralds he did just that, eagerly grabbing at them as the unicorn released them from her levitation spell.

“Thanks!” Spike profusely thanked the alabaster unicorn. “I’m gonna bake these into a jeweled cake. It’ll have a ruby center, a diamond lining, and sapphire gems for decoration.” His serpentine tongue ran over his lips as he spoke. The image only reinforced one strongly held belief in Rarity. The way to a colt’s heart is through his gut.

“There really is no need to thank me darling, really,” The unicorn spoke with a dismissing hoof, smiling down at her young helper. “It is just proper payment for helping a lady out with her work.” Spike beamed at the words.

“So, what are you going to do now?” His tone aside, it was more than clear to the unicorn he was looking for another way to help her.

“Well, now,” Rarity began, adjusting herself until she stood tall and proper. “I will take this fine collection of gems back to my boutique, and by tomorrow’s end, I’ll have constructed a dress impressive enough to bedazzle the Canterlot elite!” Her hoof rose into the air defiantly, a smile breaking across her muzzle. “It will shine like Celestia’s sun and beam like Luna’s moon. I am sure that when Fleur De Lis wears this gown, she will swoon every colt and stallion within a hundred hoofs of her!”

“Wow, that’s sounds amazing!” Spike readily complemented. “Do you need any help with that? I mean, I could hold your needles and quills, maybe get some materials you need.”

Right. On. Schedule.

“I do appreciate the sentiment, really I do,” Rarity spoke kindly as she set her hoof over the dragon’s small shoulder. “But tomorrow, I must lose myself in my work. I daresay that I will need absolute isolation to properly construct this gown.”

“I can help with that!” the dragon all too eagerly volunteered. “Dragons are excellent guardians. We can protect entire troves of treasure. It would be my honor to help protect you and your work.” He would have bowed were the jewels in his claws not preventing him from bending. Rarity smiled at him all the same.

“I appreciate the sentiment Spike, but perhaps another time.” The unicorn drew her hoof back with a bit lip as she saw the dragon’s demeanor visibly drop. He really was still a baby dragon, unable to hide how he was feeling. However, to a sensitive and generous pony as Rarity, it was impossible for her to ignore.

“Spike,” she began carefully, earning the gaze the dragon’s reptilian eyes. “I may not need your help tomorrow, but…” she let her sentence hang, watching as his eyes grew wide and hopeful. “I may need to take a trip to Canterlot sometime next week in order to procure some high quality silk. I would adore to have you there to help me. Would you like to come?”

She may as well have asked if the sun was hot.

“Yeah! Of Course!” The dragon would have jumped for joy, but again, the precious stones he kept close to his body kept him from moving too much. He didn’t want to drop his cake ingredients into the mud. “I’ll ask Twilight as soon as I get back to the library. I’m sure she’ll let me go, and I promise I’ll help you in every way I can.” Rarity giggled cutely at the dragon’s display.

“Of course, Spike. I wouldn’t expect anything less from my most eager of volunteers. But,” She spoke again, letting her words hang. “I must get these jewels back to my boutique. I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, and you have to ask Twilight permission to go.” The dragon eagerly nodded at her words.

“You’re right!” Spike readily agreed, much to the unicorn’s satisfaction. “Do you… need any more help?” The baby dragon pouted his lips, raising them higher on his face as his eyes grew large and wide. A few select tears collected beneath the lids of his eyes.

Rarity couldn’t help but critic the look.

“You need to add some sniffling, maybe a little whine for attention.” Her hoof rose to her muzzle to hide her twisted lips, a common act when she was deep in thought. “The pout is well done, excellent even by my standards, but you need to do more than just make your eyes glossy. Try to shed a few of them. They’d reflect well over your scales.”

All expression left the dragon’s face as the unicorn went on, replaced by just a slack jaw.

“Don’t get me wrong, sweetie, to most ponies that pout would have earned you the farm, so to speak. But I have too much experience with pouting, both on the receiving and giving end.” Spike continued to watch her with undisguised shock. Her lips were held in a judgmental line for only a second longer before a broad smile cracked her lips.

“Oh do relax, dear. I was only joking.” Rarity waved her hoof at the dragon. It immediately earned a sigh of relief from Spike. “Of course I need your help getting back to my boutique. I wouldn’t have dreamed of dismissing your help just quite yet.”

With a spring in her trot, the mare continued down the road, leaving the dragon behind shifting his gaze between the cart of gems behind him and precious stones in his claws. His tongue stuck out from between his lips, pondering on what to do. The mare was gaining ground ahead of him, leaving the dragon far behind.

His tail expertly extended outwards, wrapping around the handle of the cart behind him. It twisted around the metal, knotting itself as tight as it could. Turning back towards the mare far ahead of him, Spike dug his feet into the ground, pushing against the dirt with all his might.

The grip on the gems in his arms grew stronger the harder he pushed with his legs. The cart behind him barely gave even a hoof of ground, even as he leant forward as far as he could. A slow groan of exertion came from behind his clenched teeth. His foot slid against the dirt beneath him, no ground be gained or lost.

Then, at a snail’s pace, the cart began to move forward, creaking as Spike’s tail dragged it. The baby dragon’s legs gradually began to lift and stretch forwards, pulling the cart of gems with him. Not one stone in his arms dropped. At the pace of Tank without his hover-propellor, Spike began to make his way to the boutique, once more.

Rarity was long out of his sight by the time he began to make ground, and the dragon doubted he would make it to the pony’s shop before sunset at the rate he was moving. Still, he refused to drop his gems or let go of the mare’s wagon. Both were too important for him to leave behind.

“Hey Spike!” He heard his name being called. The dragon twisted his head, looking among the sparse few amount of ponies still left on the town’s street for the voice. He found none. His brow raised in curiosity.

“Up here!” The voice came again. Spike’s gaze followed the voices command, looking up into the slowly dimming sky.

It was by instinct alone he didn’t drop the jewels in his claws, not like the way his jaw dropped from his head.

“Oh, what a day.” Rarity spoke in relief as she opened the door to her home. The sudden sensation of cool air drifting her warm coat was a welcome feeling, bristling her fur and bringing a small shiver to her body. She cooed in appreciation.

She gently trotted into her home, lighting her horn with an audible hum. Instantly, a light blue aura began to surround the nearby garments, moving them around podiums and dragging the raw materials around their shelves. Slowly, but noticeably, vacant room was added to her boutique, patches of empty space free of any object.

With a soft smile, Rarity summoned a new ponyquin, placing it in the center of the shop. Her eyes drifted around her store once, setting what she knew would soon be a stage. Her hoof pointed towards a now open shelf, noting in her head that the sapphires she collected would be lovely there. Her eyes fell a bit, landing on another open section of the wall, making another note that the rubies would fit best there.

Her eyes fell to a large section of open space next to her model podium, taking care to imagine a small carefully organized pile of diamonds sitting there, organized by size and shape. Her body twirled as she circled the bare ponyquin, double checking the location of each precious stone she had gathered.

A smile began to grow over Rarity’s lips as she made triply sure her stage was set. When every stone was placed in its proper home, it would be by the thrill of instinct that she would begin to make the gown she was commissioned to construct. Years of practice, patience, and talents always boiled down to the moments when she was in her element, able to create without distraction or hinderance.

When she was in her prime, there wasn’t a dress in all of Equestria she couldn’t create.

Of course, she needed the gems she and Spike had mined in order to make them.

Her eyes turned back to her door, still shut against its frame. Rarity bit her lip as she continued to gaze at it.

“Perhaps I should have helped Spike with the load.” The unicorn mused. “He is just a wittle baby. It may have been too much for the poor dear to pull alone.” A hoof rose and covered her mouth as she thought further on the subject. “Knowing him, he’ll probably won’t let go of those gems I gave him.” The possibility was too great to ignore. Rarity took a short breath of air before preparing herself.

“Well, it may be the stallion’s job to take the luggage, but a proper mare doesn’t burden others.” She gave a slight huff to herself trotting towards the door with her mind made.

But just as her horn began to hum, the door opened without her effort.

Momentarily stunned, Rarity froze, staring at the door. It slowly swung open, no doubt under the force of something from the other side pushing it. That was when she saw the familiar green scales and pile of gems pass the woodwork. Her lips quickly curled into a pleasant smile.

“Spikey!” She eagerly called his name. “I’m so sorry for leaving you with so much to carry. I simply wasn’t thinking at all.” The dragon’s perky gaze was evident as he saw the approaching pony.

“It’s no problem Rarity.” He easily dismissed. His gaze looked behind him, towards the still open door. “I got somepony to help me.”

“Oh?” The unicorn asked curiously. “Who?”

“Well, you’ll have to see for yourself.” Spike cryptically answered, to the minor annoyance of the mare. “It surprised me when she offered.” It was impossible for Rarity to miss the childish smile that adorned his serpentine lips as he spoke, walking away from the door with his gems still in hand.

Interested, Rarity turned her attention back to the door, which had stopped it’s slow opening. However, instead of something new reaching her eyes, something different perforated her perked ears.

Childish giggles.

Rarity knew in a moment who it was.

“Sweetie Belle, I know it’s you.” The laughter stopped on a bit. The alabaster unicorn grinned at her apparent victory. “You can come in sweetheart. This is your home, too.”

“Aw,” the childish whine came from beyond the door. “But I wanted to surprise you.” Rarity followed the words with her own cheerful chuckle.

“It’s quite alright dear. I’m actually quite proud of you that you helped Spike with the cart. But do be a dear and come in now. I have to unload the gems and give you a great big hug of appreciation.” Rarity nearly squealed with childish amusement at the groan of disappointment that reached her ears.

“Okay,” the Sweetie Belle spoke, admitting her defeat. The groan “But, I do have one more surprise.” Now Rarity hadn’t a clue of what she was speaking of. A glance towards Spike only earned her the averted dragon’s gaze, focusing on the bare ponyquin she had set up a few moment prior. She held in a sigh.

“Very well Sweetie,” Rarity spoke. “Amaze me.”

The door practically swung open at the words.

True to her word, the filly amazed her sister, earning a very high and very audible gasp from the mare.

Sweetie Belle stood at her tallest and proudest with her butterfly wings extended to their fullest.

The effect they gave was blinding.

The multi-colored wings on her sisters back, reflecting the refracted light from the gems behind her, lit the studio with a rainbow spectrum. The lights danced like fireflies across the boutique’s inner walls, making the red gown purple, the green silk yellow, white fabric blue, and even shimmering over the walls until rainbows littered them. The display was as gorgeous as it was blinding.

Rarity watched on horrified. Her mouth worked uselessly, one part aweing two parts gaping at the wings that clearly adorned her little sister’s back. They melded seamlessly with her coat, disappearing beyond the efforts any make-up or silk could properly hide. If her ability to control them was not clue enough, then that observation alone made it clear.

Sweetie Belle had wings. The same kind of wings Rarity herself had had before.

“S-Sweetie Belle!” She shouted her sister’s name louder than she had planned. The filly instantly snapped the wings downwards, ending the light show in a flash. “Where in the wide world of Equestria did you get those… those wings?!” Rarity couldn’t control the fear in her voice, the same way Sweetie couldn’t hide the fear that seeped into her words.

“From… F-From Twilight,” the filly stuttered out. “It was the spell she was working on, when Spike asked us for help.” Rarity began to look towards the dragon, watching silently from a corner. Sweetie Belle was faster. “But she worked with Fluttershy for a long time to make sure she could cast the spell! She… She was just making sure her hypothesis was right.”

“Then why would she give you those wings?” Rarity asked with an accusing hoof. “I nearly perished because of those… things.” Sweetie fired back a response that ended the argument faster than it began.

“Because I was thinking of you!” The room was quieter than a barren moon.

“What?” Rarity asked. Sweetie belle bit her lip as she looked up into her sister’s gaze.

“I… I was thinking about you. Twilight told us, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I, about how they work. What we think is supposed to create what the wings look like. I mean, Apple Bloom got these big dragon wings cause she was thinking about her brother, and how big and strong he is. I… I thought about you.” When Rarity didn’t speak, Sweetie Belle spoke on.

“I was thinking about what you would like in your wings. You would want something that was eye-catching and unique, but still practical. You like things that… that are fun to look at, but aren’t a hassle to wear. I…” the filly sniffled before she finished. “I was hoping you would like them.”

Sweetie Belle puffed her lips, twisting her head as she widened her eyes. A low whimper came from her lips, shaking her body as she slowly began to curl to the floor. Trails of tears ran beneath each of her eyes, staining the fur around her muzzle. Even the wings on her back appeared to wilt with the rest of her, dipping low until the nearly dragged beneath her.

Rarity sucked in a breath of air at the sight.

“Spike, dear,” Rarity spoke in as controlled tone as she could manage towards the dragon; still holding the stones the mare had given him before. “This is what I was referring to earlier. Sweetie here has completely mastered the art of pouting for what she wants.” The dragon’s eyes shifted slowly from the elder mare to her younger sister.

Sweetie’s gaze fell on his as well. Spike was forced to place a claw to his chest, dropping some of the gems to the boutique’s floor.

“You see?” Rarity spoke again. “I daresay that in the presence of the princess, she may be able to earn the crown. We have only to be thankful that she is a good pony.” The alabaster unicorn’s eyes turned back to the filly’s, only to be immediately assaulted by the same tearful gaze. She bit her lip to control her thoughts.

The wings were a beauty, and they were something that she could admire all day. But they were a nuisance, too much surface area and too little force behind them. Not to mention the amount of painful memories they conjured within the mare’s head. But every time Rarity let her gaze drift over Sweetie Belle’s face, she was forced to battle the simply devastating look of desire.

The battle didn’t last long.

“Oh alright.” She let out in an exasperated tone, dropping her head to force her eyes to break away from Sweetie’s. “You can keep the wings for now.”

“YAY!” The smaller unicorn cheered, jumping into the air as she did so. Her wings kept her airborne as she fluttered gently throughout the room.

“But,” Rarity continued, gazing the filly to freeze in mid-air. “Tomorrow we are going to see Twilight and I will have to hear from her exactly what changed about those… wings.” Her hoof shook as she pointed towards the multi-colored appendages upon her sister’s back. Sweetie’s smile didn’t falter.

“Okay!” The filly eagerly agreed, continuing her joyful flutter through the Carousel. Rarity let out a controlled sigh as she placed her hoof to her forehead. She turned her attention to Spike, still holding his earned gems in his little claws.

“Spike,” she spoke his name, immediately earning his attention. “I’m afraid that I must send you home now. I have to take care of my sister before tomorrow, and I must ask that you tell Twilight I’ll be dropping by sometime in the morning, preferably early. Would you mind doing that?” The dragon’s nod couldn’t have been faster.

“Of course! I’ll get right on it.” The dragon started marching for the door, gems bouncing lightly against him with every step he took. When he was just in front of the doors, he froze. He leaned left and right, trying to raise his claws high enough to grasp the handles of the doors. They were far outside his reach. Stifling a giggle at the absolutely adorable display, Rarity quickly lit her horn and opened the door. Spike was out the door without even a second though.

Shutting the door to her home, Rarity turned her attention to the only other pony in the room.

“Sweetie Belle, could you come down here for a second?” Even to her own ears, it sounded odd having to say such a phrase to own sister. Having to call her down from flying of all things. Nevertheless, the filly gently flapped her wings and settled on the ground in front of her sister. Her eyes were still beaming.

“Now Sweetie,” Rarity began, “I want to make this perfectly clear.” The unicorn cleared her throat with a feminine start. “I understand that you and your friends doubtlessly volunteered to help Twilight with her research under the guise of trying to get your Cutie Mark, correct?” The filly nodded at the question.

“Alright, I just want to make this clear.” The unicorn took in a slow breath control herself. She knew by more than instinct her next words wouldn’t be met with happy acceptance. “You won’t earn your cutie mark from having wings Sweetie.”

“Why not?” A childish whine came from Sweetie following her sister’s words, just as Rarity predicted. “I’ve tried everything else. Why not try something like a pegasus? Maybe, maybe I was supposed to have wings and Twilight just helped me out.”

“Because that would be using magic to help you get your cutie mark.” Rarity quickly dismissed. “And I thought Twilight and I made it perfectly clear before that your Cutie Mark isn’t something that can be magically given, altered, or enforced. I am not at all suggesting you cannot enjoy your wings, but I will have to deny that any action you make with them will earn you your Cutie Mark.” The look of dejection across her sister’s face was nearly as bad as the pout from before.

“I’m sorry Sweetie, I really am.” The unicorn spoke as she approached the filly. “But I didn’t want you to have any false promises about what you could do with those wings. After all, I highly doubt Twilight promised you that you would get your Cutie Mark. She didn’t, did she?” The filly fought tooth and nail against herself from admitting her fault.

“Well… no, but… it’s possible, right?” A slow shake of the head from the elder mare quickly set the filly into a dejected mood. Another sigh came from Rarity as she saw her sister’s state.

“Sweetie Belle,” she began carefully, sitting next to her sister. “You know that your Cutie Mark is something you have to earn. It comes from your special talent; the thing that you enjoy most of all in life and you can do better than almost any other pony. You’re a unicorn dear, and I’m afraid that wings aren’t going to help or hinder you from learning what it is you’re meant to do.”

“I know…” The filly responded dejectedly, lowering head until her chin sat on the floor. “I guess… I just thought if I tried something like this, I’d at least get an idea. It’s what the rest of the girls thought, too.”

“And I hold nothing against you for trying new things.” Rarity encouraged her sister. “I just don’t want to give you any false hopes.”

“Alright…” Sweetie spoke lowly again, grumbling a few unintelligible words into the floor. Rarity watched her sister patiently, one part admiring her sister’s ability to accept reality, two parts admiring the multi-colored wings on her back. They really did look just like the wings Twilight had given her just over a year ago, all to see her dear friend Dash perform in Cloudsdale.

It was a good thing her memory was selective.

“So…” The filly began. “What happens now?”

“Now?” Rarity mimicked her sister, brows rising as a mischievous smile decorated her lips. “Now you are going straight to bed. I’ve had a full day and I imagine that you have as well.”

“Aw,” Sweetie Belle whined. “But I’m not even tired yet.”

“Of course you aren’t,” she started. “You’ve only been helping me in the gem field most of the day followed by helping Twilight with her studies, all while trying to earn your Cutie Mark. Really Sweetie, it’s the same thing you always say right before you jump into bed and are fast asleep before I can even shut off the lights.” A heat of scarlet passed over Sweetie’s cheeks at the sentence.

“I’m not… that tired.” She followed her words with a large yawn. Rarity smiled at her younger sister. Sweetie’s eyes looked up to her elder laced with sleep and fatigue. “Will I have to get rid of these wings tomorrow?”

“Who knows,” the unicorn dismissed with a shrug of her shoulders. “If Twilight says they are perfectly safe now, I’ll trust her word and you can keep them.” The filly’s smile was ready to split her face. “But, that just means you will be helping me in the boutique a bit more from now on.” That earned only question from the curious filly.

“How?”

“With both wings and a horn, you can help me greatly by doing one difficult, but rewarding task.” The unicorn’s horn hummed with magic as it began to glow the familiar blue aura. From around the show, silk and thread began to hover, slowly surrounding the fashion-wise pony. Her smile was as sharp as the needles she held.

“Modeling!”

The filly’s defiant cry echoed through the home.

A content sigh left Dash’s lips as she snuggled into the cloud beneath her. Her coat bristled at the cool sensation of the cloud, insulating the heat her body gave off into a comfortable pocket of air. She smiled in content satisfaction.

Another busy day filled with flying, spinning, and every trick in her arsenal, short of the Sonic Rainboom. After a long workout session like that, a cool cloud in the dusk sky was just what the pegasus needed for her tired wings. The cool water particles chilled her burning muscles, relaxing the taught tendons. Every breath that left her lips was one of modest pleasure.

At times likes these, Rainbow let her mind wander. It was just like flying in a sense, imagining things. No boundaries, no limits, nothing but what you wanted to accomplish.

She could see herself flying above a crowd in Cloudsdale, every pegasus beneath her eagerly cheering to see her skills, to watch her fly faster, to see her signature moves, and most importantly, to see what she was made of. She would twirl in the air, free fall for hundreds of hooves before making a miraculous recovery, maybe even pull off a Buccaneer Blitz for good measure.

But then, when the show was reaching its climax, and the ponies were at their peak with energy, that was when Dash could see herself getting ready for the finale. She’d fly as high as she could possibly reach, flapping her wings until the pull of gravity meant nothing to her. She’d be able to see everything from how high she was. See the mountains beyond the edges of the horizon and the lands beyond the sea.

Once she reached that fabled height, she'd flap one of her wings, twister her body and aim her nose to the ground. Then her descent would begin. The wind would whip past her with a deafening whoosh, so loud that even the cheers of the ponies around her would become nothing. Her breath would become sparse, her chest tight, but her smile as wide as her wingspan.

Then, when she was at her limit, when her vision just made out the crowd of ponies rushing past her, sitting on the clouds around her, then she’d break the only barrier left to shatter.

She’d surpass the speed of sound and perform the Sonic Rainboom.

The display would light up the sky, it would fill the stands with a spectacle of color that would be unmatched by any other pegasus for leagues around. It would shake the stands and rumble like thunder, invigorating the pegasi with a level of exhilaration that not even magic could match.

Then she’d fly back up, landing on the clouds of Cloudsdale. She’d be rushed by the crowd, surrounded by her fans and friends. They’d lift her up, carry her across the clouds as she smiled and laughed. They would chant her name with every trot they made.

“Rainbow Dash!” She would be able to feel their adoration for her like the wind in flight, filling her with a feeling of accomplishment that was nearly impossible to obtain.

“Rainbow Dash!” She’d shut her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being carried without any effort on her part, being celebrated like the celebrity she was.

And it was all because of her hard work.

Hard work, dedication, patience, and strive.

“Rainbow Dash!!” The pegasus shot awake.

A gasp of surprise left Dash’s lips as the shout from before still rang in her head. Her mane whipped left and right with her head, searching for the pony that had called out for her.

Her pink eyes landed on an orange pegasus, hovering in the air beside her.

Dash stared at her, her mouth as wide as her eyes. With the sun behind her, she could see every detail of the smaller pony. Her wide proud grin. Her hopeful purple eyes. But most prominently, the six wings adorned on the pony’s back.

“Look Dash, I can fly!” The pony cheered eagerly, flapping her wings in a rhythmic cycle around one another. Dash watched on stupefied. Even fresh from waking, she knew this wasn’t a dream, no matter how impossible it seemed.

“Scoots…” she whispered the pony’s name with disbelief, moving until she was standing on the cloud. Scootaloo eagerly flew down to join her, quickly robbing her coat around the mare’s legs. Her smile had only grown with every passing second.

“Isn’t this great! I can fly now. I can really fly!” The filly flexed her wings all at once, quickly and easily lifting her off the cloud. She fell back onto the soft surface with a soft whump. Dash’s shock had yet to subside.

The elder pegasus’s blue hoof lifted slowly, settling at the base of the filly’s wings. The pony halted in her movements, but eagerly extended her wings to show them to her idol. Her excitement was unbounded and unfiltered.

Dash’s hoof slowly ran over the edges of one of the wings, tracing the muscular exterior before slowly rising and falling over each pinion. She counted the feathers, silently numbering them in her head. With wide unblinking eyes, she performed the same action on the next wing, and then the one after it. She followed suit until she had traced all six wings belonging to the once grounded pegasus.

“Aren’t they awesome?” The filly asked her mentor as she finished. “I was thinking of how fast you could fly when you got them.” Dash’s gaze fell to meet the filly’s. For just a moment, just the smallest breath of a second, Scootaloo’s smile faltered as the shocked still gaze of Dash met hers.

She looked… terrified.

“How?” The question was one word, but the filly knew exactly what Rainbow meant. She answered without delay.

“From Twilight,” she cheered, standing at her tallest as she did so. “She was working on that spell from a while ago, the one that let Rarity get those wings for your flying competition. Well, according to Spike, she’s finally got it to a point to know how it works, and is able to cast it whenever she wants!” The filly jumped again at the words, mind already racing with the possibilities of flight.

“Twilight… gave you more… wings?” Dash carefully pieced together what Scootaloo had said. To her, heck, to any pony, the action would seem impossible. But here was Rainbow staring at proof that she was wrong.

“Sort of,” Scootaloo began, hoof itching the back of her mane. “It gave any pony it was casted on wings, but the kind of wings depended on what you were thinking. At least that’s how she described it. I don’t really know all the details. But more importantly, this means I can fly with you now!” Scootaloo deftly concluded in front of her mentor.

Rainbow didn’t cheer with her.

Instead, slowly, Dash turned away from Scootaloo. The cyan pegasus spread her wings, crouched low the cloud, then flexed her appendages with all her strength.

She took off at the speeds Scootaloo had always admired. Except now, she was flying away from the filly.

Scootaloo watched her soar through the dusk sky, quickly vanishing from sight.

The filly’s smile hung only on one delicate string.

“Dash?” She whispered.

Only an empty wind was her answer.

Author's Note

In case you’re curious, as I’m sure you are, I had to do three rewrites of the ENTIRE CHAPTER because of the mane 6’s reaction to Twilicorn. While Twilight isn’t an alicorn in this story, their reaction tells me they wouldn’t be against new wings. At all. So, I had to rewrite this to where their reactions do make sense.

“What about Rainbow?” You may ask. Well, that plays into the new idea that I had. You see, the Discussion deals a lot less with medical or high brow terms and definitions and focuses a lot more on what the established results mean. This can be as simple as how it well it fits with the established hypothesis to something as large as the level of impact it will have on the community as a whole.

For this rewrite, I decided to take the idea from the ground breaking, and highly controversial, study of the Heart Failure drug BiDil. BiDil is a drug that lowers the chance of Heart Failure’s in its patience by a significant margin.

The problem? The drug only works on one RACE. It’s literally an ethnicity specific drug.

The discussion in the research pertaining to that drug trail dealt very little with the results, mentioning them only as proof of their research, and dealt far more with what the drug would mean as an impact to the medical society.

Twilight has, theoretically, just invented a spell that could give any pony flight regardless of their level of training, dedication, or natural talent. Let’s see how pegasi like Rainbow like that.

Oh, and a third thing, because I’m paranoid I may have gone too subtle again.’

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were all supposed to either show or describe how their work is successful or fun because of the extreme amount of time and effort that put into it.

That’s going to be key for the next chapter. Hopefully that comes sooner than a month from now.

Discussion; Part 1

Twilight slept soundly on her bed, breath easily passing through her lips. Her slumber was dreamless, mind already overworked from the day she had just left behind. Nevertheless, a smile was set upon her lips, content and satisfied with what she had accomplished. Months of work to nearly a year of preparation, and she had finally managed to perfect a spell that no unicorn before had yet to explore.

Her head dug into her pillow, legs shuffling as her unconscious mind adjusted herself across the material. A small sigh left her lips, though her eyes were just as motionless as they had been through her sleep thus far.

A discomforting groan worked through her lips as something pushed against her, shaking her peaceful form. Her hooves rose to her head, covering her eyes as she attempted to lure her dreams back to her. Another pushed rocked her body, forcing her eyes to open begrudgingly.

They blinked, attempting sorely to wipe away the fuzz of sleep. Confusion topped her confusion as she realized her room was still dark and no light trying to squeeze through the blinds. Her foreleg moved forward, trying to grasp at the scales of Spike. It had to be Spike, there wasn’t any other pony that would wake her up by nudging her.

Then again, her little dragon had been her assistant long enough to know how to rouse the sleeping unicorn properly. It still involved a little pushing and nudging, but it also included little reminders of what she had to get done. As tired as she was, the only thing Twilight could hear was the sound of some pony breathing.

“Spike?” She spoke the dragon’s name questioningly, a yawn forcing her jaw open to its fullest as she did. Her back arched to stretch itself. “It’s not morning yet. What’s wrong?” Twilight reached her forehoof out, hoping to at pet Spike on his head.

As soon as she felt fur instead of scales, she knew something was wrong.

Adrenaline started to work through the webs of her mind, batting them aside as she brought herself to full consciousness. One blink more and Twilight was able to see the stranger in her room. Even with the low level of lighting in her room, it was easy for her to see the prismatic mane over the blue fur of a pegasus.

Dash was sitting by her bed side, her face unreadable. Twilight didn’t know if it was the darkness in her room or something else entirely. She hoped for the former, but she suspected the latter. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Dash lightly trotted away, shocking the already shaken unicorn. Rainbow, however stopped.

She turned when she was more than a few hooves away from Twilight’s bed, leaving room for the unicorn to move out from under covers. With her eyes still glued to her friend, Twilight did just that, slowly letting her hooves touch down on the wood of her floor. The light clopping of her hooves was the only sound that filled the room, and it worried Twilight immensely.

Then, finally, Rainbow spoke.

“Twi… We gotta talk.”

Twilight didn’t know what scared her more. The hour at which Rainbow had woken her up or the almost-submissive tone of the pegasus. Neither one paid her conscious any good mind.

“Rainbow, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” The unicorn trotted towards her friend, lifting a hoof to lay across the pegasus’s side.

She froze when Dash lightly pushed it away. Twilight didn’t know what to say, an uncomfortable pain building inside of her.

“Yeah,” the pegasus answered. “Something did happen.” Instead of answering with words, Dash motioned towards Twilight’s sides.

Twilight followed her hoof, eyes stopping on the pair of wings gripped at her side. They shivered as she looked at them.

“My wings?” Twilight questioned, carefully extending them outwards as she spoke. Twilight wished that the pain she saw flash through Rainbow’s eyes was just her imagination. “How… how do you know about them?”

“Scootaloo,” Rainbow answered simply, far too simply to be comfortable for Twilight. “She found me just a few hours ago, started showing me how easy it was for her to fly… how easy it was with your magic… how she didn’t even have to try.” Twilight’s mouth was drying fast.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Twilight ventured. “I mean, she and her friends volunteered to help me, and I made absolutely sure it was safe before casting the spell on them. Do you know how she got them?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, passive as before. “From the same spell you cast on Rarity for the Young Flier’s competition. You gave them to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, too.” Twilight rotated her lips, unsure of how to respond. Dash was right, but the… snide tone to which she spoke did nothing but put Twilight off.

“That’s right,” she admitted. “Spike and I have been working on this for months. We were only just recently able to figure out how to make it work properly. It requires a mental thought to which the pony in question is focused on during the time of the spell’s activation. It’s likely that this thought alters the pathways of the mind necessary to facilitate the wing growth necessary to-”

Twilight stopped as a hoof was held out in front of her.

“That’s… enough Twi,” Dash shook her head as she spoke. The unicorn couldn’t disagree that she felt off put by the actions, but per her friend’s request she stopped. “I just… do you know, like, really know what this did?”

Twilight’s brows furrowed themselves as she thought hard on the question. Through all of her careful testing and research, she was aware of just about every side affect of the spell from its duration to magical level necessary to complete. It gave wings to ponies who didn’t have them, likely increased the flying capabilities of those that did, and to top it off, had a high likelihood of experimentation to see what wings fit each pony best, from size, weight, and even number of if Scootaloo was any indication. But for the life of her, Twilight could not think of why Dash would be so scared of such scenarios.

“I… I know what I did,” the unicorn began, trailing her sentence of. “But I’m not sure what has you so worried.” As the ideas naturally flowed through her mind, Twilight latched onto the first one.

“Wait, did Scootaloo get hurt?” Her voice carried nothing but worry. Said fears died though when Dash shook her head. Her concern did not, however, as Rainbow continued to wear the same placid face.

“She’s fine,” the pegasus spoke with a scoff. “As fine as any pony can be for having all their hard-work being given away.” What Twilight hoped was that Dash’s words would have enlightened her. Instead, they only served to confuse her even further.

“What does that mean?” From the sneer Rainbow gave her, Twilight could only assume her friend was waiting for those words.

“What do I mean?” She repeated back. “I mean how you took away Scootaloo’s hard work with a single spell!” Her shout made the unicorn jump, her faux-wings expanding at the startle. The sight of them infuriated Rainbow further. “You cast some stupid spell that literally put everything she was working towards in second place. In a single moment, you gave her wings to fly with instead of letting her train on her own!”

Twilight was shivering. Dash screaming was nothing new to her. It only took a poke at her pride to get the pegasus yelling in her defense. But this? This was completely different. Dash wasn’t defending herself. She wasn’t arguing how great she was.

Rainbow was attacking Twilight.

“B-But Dash,” the unicorn stuttered out. “I… All I did was help her in the best way that I could. I mean, right now she only has a simple knowledge of how to fly. She still has to train herself, just like before.”

“Don’t you get it?!” Rainbow slammed her hooves on the flooring as she yelled. “She can’t learn how to fly better! She doesn’t know how! Your stupid spell taught her how to fly, now she has no idea how to teach herself! It would be like asking Applejack to make a new dress when all she knows are what they’re supposed to look like!”

Dash was in Twilight’s face, her eyes narrowed into slits and lips pulled upwards into a snarl. Shivering breaths were being taken in by the unicorn and huffs of air were being released by the pegasus. They stared at one another, one enraged and the other terrified. Then, with a scoff, Dash turned from the unicorn.

“Twi,” she began again, far softer than just before. “I know you casting new spells isn’t anything I should be surprised about. I’m not. What I am kinda shocked at is just… how you didn’t think of what this would do. Were you too wrapped up in your studies to even think a step ahead?”

Twilight was being careful. Rainbow was clearly holding herself back right now, doubtlessly wanting to berate the unicorn some more. But Dash had self-control, used only when she most needed it. And Twilight, thankfully, has wisdom. She knew not to press a dangerous button or try and play a word game.

“I never thought of what kind of damage this could do.” Twilight admitted, giving her friend ground. “But Dash, that’s because there’s very little that this can hurt. Please hear me out.” She spoke the words in a rush, seeing her friend’s eyes widen with a retort burning on her lips. When Dash shut her mouth tightly, Twilight continued.

“I was researching the Wing Spell to see if I could properly use it again with less risk to the pony it was being casted on. Over the weeks however, I found my affinity for it increased and casting became easier.” Dash didn’t miss a beat.

“Then why didn’t you stop there? It’s not like you don’t have enough to do?” Ignoring the barb, the unicorn answered.

“Because I wanted to know how it worked. Like you said, its one thing to be able to use something, but it’s something else entirely to understand how it works. I wanted to find out why it created different kinds of wings and why the creatures who had the spell casted on them knew how to fly almost immediately. That’s a natural progression of thought and research.”

“Then you should have started thinking about something else.” Rainbow shot back without hesitation. “Cause you have no idea how bad those wings are.”

“Dash,” Twilight began, her voice imploring. “You know I can’t just throw away something as ground-breaking as this just because there may be a few issues with it.” Her head shook as she tried to smile. It was a vain act. “Rainbow, nothing has ever been made without a few issues.”

“And what like this has been made before?” Dash asked back, trotting closer to the unicorn. Twilight wished it was the usual stout posture her friend usually had, full of pride and energy. Right now, she could have passed for Crankey without his wig. “I’m all for new things Twi. I couldn’t stand the idea of never trying new things. That’s half the fun of living! But those?” Her hoof pointed at Twilight’s extended wings. The unicorn pulled them back reflexively. “Those are going to change a lot more than a few expectations.”

“Like what?” Twilight challenged, feeling her coat bristle slightly as her nerves were tweaked. “I can understand there is a high possibility for training involving this spell being required, licenses likely being a possibility. There’s also a great chance that it drastically change the flight schools in Cloudsdale. Other than that, I can only see great things happening.”

“Then you’re dumb.” The comment was so blunt, Twilight wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I-I’m what?” Dash didn’t need any more than that to continue.

“I said you’re dumb if you can’t see how bad this could get.” The unicorn opened her mouth to argue, but was silenced as the pegasus rapidly extended her wings, taking the few trots necessary to stand nose-to-nose with the mare. “These wings, I was born with them. I trained them every single day since the moment I could fly. Everything they can do is possible only because I put the effort into it. It’s the exact same thing with your magic.”

To push her point, Dash pushed Twilight’s horn. The unicorn yelped at the contact, unready for the sudden force. Her neck bent with the push, her wings flapping to draw her back. It made Rainbow snarl, arguable the first sign of her old-self since she set hoof in Twilight’s library.

“You read just about every book in Canterlot before you were half as good at magic as you are now. You weren’t just born with it, you made it yourself.” Twilight swallowed at the words, unable to deny what her friend was saying. “Just like my wings, and just like any of our friends. Rarity and her dresses, Fluttershy and her animals, Applejack and her farm, heck, even Pinkie Pie and her parties. I’m not gonna say there was never any talent, but I could fly circles around my filly self and your head’s probably twice as full since you were little.”

“Dash,” Twilight started patiently. “What’s your point?”

“My point?” The pegasus snorted to the side before answering. “None of us got anything, we earned it.” It wasn’t enough for Twilight.

“And I didn’t just stumble across this Dash,” she argued in turn. “I’ve been studying this spell for weeks, working out every little detail about it to make sure that it works properly.” The longer she spoke, the faster the pegasus’s head shook.

“I’m not talking about just this Twilight,” Rainbow seethed. “I’m talking about years here. Years of hard work, training, studying, and making sacrifices for the sake of improving yourself! Your stupid spell just took all all of that from Scootaloo and possibly every other pegasus younger than her.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Twilight replied back, her normally broad patience being worn. “Like you’ve already said, she’s been training for so long. This spell gives her just what she needs to be able to fly now. Now, you can teach her the rest.” The phrase was supposed to stroke Rainbow’s Ego. Instead, the pegasus deftly turned it back and slapped it across the unicorn’s face with a single question.

“What can I train her to do that your spell can’t give her?”

The words struck Twilight hard, stopping her cold. Dash saw it and, much like her nature, she drove it home.

“I get you were trying to help her. That’s what you do Twi, it’s what you’ve done since the moment you came here. But now you’ve gone and helped too much.” The pegasus looked out into the night sky as she spoke on. “Fillies and colts won’t ask for flying lessons, they’ll ask for your magic. They won’t need special training, they’ll need special unicorns. They won’t need me, they’ll need you.”

The silence that fell over the room was unbearable. It weighed down on the unicorn and choked the throat of the pegasus. They both continued to stare at one another both looking for what to say, but neither able to conjure up an answer.

“Do you think…” Twilight began to speak, if only to beat away the tension of the hush. “That will really happen? My spell will, effectively, remove the need for pegasi?”

Dash slowly took in a breath of air, most likely to calm her agitated nerves. Her heart wanted her to scream the answer, to make sure Twilight couldn’t possibly ignore her. But her mind told her to do otherwise. And, she was speaking to Twilight Sparkle, so she did as her mind suggested.

“Your spell, Twilight, will replace just about every major field of work that pegasi are needed for. It will make us next to useless compared to the unicorns that can cast the spell or the earth ponies that that can grow any kind of food. All we pegasi have are our wings. If those can just be given away, then what use is their in training them?”

Dash could see the unicorn shake in the darkness, her eyes wide as plates and mind likely frayed. It was odd to Rainbow, even through her curtain of now hardly-concealed rage. She wanted to make sure Twilight understood exactly what she had just done, but she couldn’t help but think she may have done something more.

“Rainbow,” Twilight spoke her name carefully, softly, coldly. “I… I need time to think. Can you please go?” The pegasus stared down at her.

“Please, go find Scootaloo. I… I-I need to think about this.” With a sigh, Rainbow relented.

“Fine,” Dash allowed, already trotting towards the window as she spoke. She stopped just before the windowsill. “But Twilight, please think about this. I don’t want everything to change.”

With a beat of her wings, she was gone, leaving Twilight alone in her room to ponder.

And to think, all the unicorn wanted was to share the sky with Dash.